Since the Los Angeles Dodgers hired Andrew Friedman for their newly-created president of baseball operations in October 2014, he surrounded himself with several respected executives to assemble a robust front office.
Friedman works alongside general manager Farhan Zaidi, senior vice president of baseball operations Josh Byrnes and vice president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos, among others. The group has a strong background in analytics, which have become mainstream throughout the majors.
Beyond boasting a large front office, the Dodgers have pursued every competitive advantage from nutrition to training.
That was furthered by the club’s hiring of Brandon Gomes as Pitching Coordinator of Performance to work with Minor League pitchers, per Greg Sullivan of The Herald News:
He helps prospects with getting information on how pitches work, on how to sequence their pitches. He might devise precisely what a pitcher should do with his off-day throwing, his offseason throwing. He lets a pitcher know what he needs to improve on, how his stuff compares to other pitchers, the most effective way to improve arm strength and arm durability.
Gomes, 32, last pitched in the Majors in 2015. He was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 17th round in 2007 out of Tulane University in New Orleans. Gomes made his MLB debut in 2011 with the Tampa Bays Rays, when Friedman was general manager.
In 173 relief appearances across five seasons, Gomes was 11-12 with a 4.20 ERA while striking out 144 and walking 61 in 167 innings pitched.
