Brian Chase

In the high-stakes world of Major League Baseball, where marginal gains can determine championship success, Brian Chase is orchestrating one of competitive sport’s most holistic AI transformations.

As Vice President of Baseball Systems at the Miami Marlins, Brian oversees a technology initiative that extends far beyond traditional analytics, encompassing data engineering, software development, machine learning (ML) and product development across the Marlins baseball operations group.

He joined the Marlins in 2025 as part of a deliberate front office transformation designed to create sustainable competitive advantages through data-driven decision making.

His message is clear: leverage technology AI to bring a World Series championship back to South Florida.

What Brian brings that’s unique to AI sport strategy

What sets Brian apart in the AI for sports sector, is his holistic approach to AI implementation – recognising that advanced analytics mean nothing without practical application.

“Every day, our mission at the Marlins is simple: getting better players and getting players better,” he says.

“We use the statistics and information generated from each game to help us evaluate how good our players are right now and how good they could be in the future.”

The impact of AI in video analysis to power players’ technique

The Marlins additionally employ vendors including Hawkeye, KinaTrax and Trackman to capture high-frame rate video footage during every home game. 

However, Brian’s innovation lies not in data collection but in transformation – using ML models to convert raw information into actionable insights for coaching staff and player development personnel.

As a result, the challenge he is solving is one that resonates across industries: bridging the gap between sophisticated AI capabilities and practical implementation.

“While we utilise AI on top of our advanced datasets and analytics to come to these conclusions, if we can’t turn those insights into something clear and actionable for a player or a coach, it’s going to be extremely hard for them to integrate those insights into their daily routines,” he says.

Gen AI’s role in enhancing scouting and reporting

Under Brian’s leadership, the Marlins have additionally established constant feedback loops that provide real-time information to support better decision-making.

Furthermore, the organisation now employs Gen AI tools to assist scouts in producing detailed reports, particularly at their Dominican Republic facility, where AI-powered systems document player performance during drills and practice sessions.

These AI-generated reports serve as inputs for traditional machine learning activities, creating what Brian describes as bridging “the qualitative and the quantitative to make really informative decisions.”

Perhaps most impressively, Brian has also contributed to the development of predictive models that forecast player development trajectories over three to five-year periods. 

“Take a single player today, who could already be on the Major League roster, one of our Minor League rosters or someone that we are looking into drafting — we have to find ways to accurately predict how good they could be in the coming years,” he explains.

“That really helps us with team construction and free agency decisions and even trades.”

This predictive capability becomes particularly crucial for an organisation operating with financial constraints relative to competitors – as the Marlins must maximise player investment value through superior evaluation and development processes rather than simply outspending rivals.

The Marlins’ technology partnership strategy

Brian manages partnerships with over 40 technology vendors, including a particularly close relationship with Posit for AI and machine learning platform capabilities.

The Marlins use Posit Connect to scale pre and post-game reports whilst building bespoke applications for players and coaches.

“The Posit Connect platform has allowed us to productionalise at scale all our pre and post-game reports that are used for all our baseball activities,” he says.

In the future, he anticipates opportunities for sports organisations to develop unique competitive advantages through technology implementation.

Already, his approach emphasises sustainable system development that supports decision-making processes across multiple seasons. 

“From a technological point of view, we are really working to build long-term sustainable systems that we can use for getting the most insights and the most analysis out of our data,” Brian says.

“This will help us make the best possible decisions to bring the best players to the field and also provide a winning culture and an environment to help us bring a third World Series championship to South Florida.”

To read the full article in the magazine, click HERE.