The recent Elon graduate was named the Hokies’ director of player development last summer and his early contributions have been lauded by fellow members of the Virginia Tech coaching staff.
In a recent preview of Virginia Tech’s upcoming baseball season, pitching coach Ryan Fecteau couldn’t help but gush about Elon alumnus Kyle Sarazin ’19, hired last summer as the Hokies’ director of player development.
“He’s basically an analytics whiz. He’s been unbelievable,” said Fecteau of Sarazin in a Jan. 21 release published by TechSideline.com, a website devoted to Virginia Tech Athletics. “It’s hard for me to quantify what he’s actually done for our staff and our hitters too.”
The nearly 1,800-word release delved into Virginia Tech’s expansive use of advanced analytics, looking closely at the contributions of Sarazin to player development and performance analysis.
In his role, Sarazin assists the baseball staff with coaching and development strategies, which include technology enhancement and opponent scouting, while also providing administrative and recruiting support. He also oversees the use of the program’s Trackman, Blast Motion and Synergy equipment, which are widely used in professional and college baseball.
According to preview author Cory Van Dyke, if early results are accurate, Sarazin’s hire “is already paying dividends for the Hokies.”
Head coach John Szefc lauded Sarazin’s addition to the staff, noting the knowledge he’s brought to the program and how the players have welcomed him – and come to respect his insights.
“(Sarazin’s) got a knowledge of (advanced analytics) that is on a whole other tier than what your average baseball guy would understand,” Szefc said. “He’s able to take it and not just help us coach the players, but his ideas on how to help coach guys, and he’s also educating our staff day to day on certain things. That’s the way the game is moving, and we’re fortunate to have him.”
Sarazin works closely with Fecteau and hitting coach Kurt Elbin to help them develop plans for respective players, providing the staff with new ways to evaluate the team. One of Sarazin’s biggest contributions is that he can condense massive amounts of data into digestible sizes. Fellow coaches have said this ability has given players the confidence to make changes for the better.
During the 2019 season, Sarazin assisted the Phoenix baseball program, which reached the Colonial Athletic Association title game, with its FlightScope player tracking system provided by scouting service ScoutCast. During each game and some practices, a rotating cast of students led by Sarazin ran the system and collected data.
Prior to joining the Hokies staff, Sarazin completed internships with USA Baseball, the Boston Bruins and the Pawtucket Red Sox. Additionally, Sarazin was a member of the baseball statistics and analytics club at Elon, helping the student group win its undergraduate division in the 2017 Society for American Baseball Research case competition.
Coming off a 26-27 season last year, Virginia Tech opens its 2020 season on Friday, Feb. 14, playing San Diego State in the Brittain Resorts Baseball at the Beach event in Conway, South Carolina.