Illini rely on student who geeks out on analytics
Charlie Young, a student at the University of Illinois and a selfdescribed baseball geek, was at the right place at the right time when the Illini became one of the increasing number of college teams to delve into analytics.
When coaches want to know about a pitcher’s velocity or spin of the ball out of his hand or a hitter’s exit velocity and launch angle off the bat, Young is their man.
He grew up near Chicago, in Naperville, and his interest in analytics was piqued after the Cubs won the World Series in 2016. He read Moneyball, the 2004 Michael Lewis book that introduced analytics to the masses.
He poked around in the Lahman Baseball Database, which holds every major league box score since 1871. He started working with Alan Nathan, an Illinois emeritus professor who researches baseball physics and consults major league teams.
“It got me thinking, ‘I like statistics, I’ve always liked baseball, so maybe I can make this my work,’ ” Young said. “It started as a hobby. I read a few books. I got more and more invested because I thought it could be an actual career path I hadn’t thought of before.”
Assistant coach Adam Christ was put in charge of getting Illinois’ analytics program up and running last summer. Once Christ chose the equipment that would provide copious amounts of data on pitchers and hitters, he needed someone to run it and interpret the information.
Enter Young, on Nathan’s recommendation.
“He’s passionate about what he does,” Christ said. “Basically this is kind of year one, so we’re trying to figure out everything he gives us and how to use it. He really enjoys diving into the numbers and likes to do whatever he can to help us.”
Young worked last summer in the Cincinnati Reds’ analytics department, and this week he started a similar job with the Baltimore Orioles.
The Illini are still playing, and Young continues to generate reports for them from the East Coast.
Young recently finished his sophomore year as a double major in computer science and astronomy, and he carries a 3.78 cumulative grade-point average — very respectable for someone who spent up to 20 hours a week on the Illini’s analytics on top of carrying a full load of classes.
His only pay was two hours of independent study credit from Nathan.
The players have embraced him, and a few started calling him “Analytics” instead of “Charlie.”
“He kind of likes that,” outfielder Jack Yalowitz said. “We all love having him around.”
The Illini go into the final weekend of the regular season 29-17 overall and 13-8 and tied for fourth in the Big Ten. That’s a big improvement over last year, when they finished 10th and missed the conference tournament.