Zach Stovall
Big League Analytics
Zach Stovall (HCB, ’20) has many sports fans’ dream job—he spends his days collecting baseball data and helping players understand how to use it to their advantage. Stovall joined the Tennessee Volunteers baseball staff last year as the director of analytics, a rewarding next step on a journey that began in his tiny Middle Tennessee hometown of Huntland. A lifelong Atlanta Braves fan, Stovall grew up attending games and playing on local teams, laying the groundwork for a career combining his love of baseball with a passion for statistics.
Originally coming to UT to study sports management, Stovall soon found a better fit with analytics at Haslam. “I was the baseball nerd who always loved stats, so analytics was a no-brainer for me,” he says. “I realized it was the best way to fulfill my dream of working in baseball.”
Stovall began his time with the Volunteers baseball team in 2018 as an equipment manager before moving into the video room. He worked countless hours capturing player footage during games and scrimmages and conducting research for coaches. Encouraged by Department of Business Analytics and Statistics senior lecturer Brian Stevens, Stovall began applying classroom concepts to his work with the team. “He got me started using data analytics to bridge the classwork with real-world data I was gathering for the baseball team,” Stovall recalls.
Upon graduation, a friend of Stovall’s who worked for the Texas Rangers introduced him to the team’s manager. Four interviews later, Stovall landed a job as a data apprentice for Down East Wood Ducks, a Single-A affiliate in North Carolina. He spent the next few years in scouting and development for the team, made up mostly of high school draftees. “I was a consultant for players, coaches, coordinators, and directors,” Stovall says. “They’d come to me with a hunch—like they were swinging too much at a certain pitch—and I’d use the data to confirm or challenge that theory.”
In 2022, Stovall was promoted to a role with the Rangers’ AAA team in Round Rock, Texas, where he created daily scouting reports and led analytics projects for affiliate coaching staffs. He worked closely with all-star players aiming to reach or return to the big leagues. “I was a sponge, learning all I could from those guys, and it was a blast,” Stovall says. In just two years, he had gone from student video manager to working for the Texas Rangers, something he calls a dream come true.
During his time in professional baseball, Stovall contributed to the development of 47 major league players, including Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel, and helped 17 players make their MLB debuts, several of whom were part of the Texas Rangers’ 2023 World Series championship team.
In July 2023, Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello called Stovall with an offer: The team needed a full-time director of data analytics, and he wanted the UT alum for the job. “The chance to come home to Tennessee and work for my alma mater was really a no-brainer,” Stovall says. Compared to his time with the Rangers, the pace at Tennessee is slower and more focused on player development. “We teach players about the data we collect and how we’ll use it, helping them set goals,” he explains. “It’s more hands-on, and I enjoy seeing my input put into action. It’s very rewarding.”
Stovall saw this hard work pay off in 2024 when Tennessee won the Men’s College World Series. “You’re with these guys every day, and they become like family,” he says. “Seeing them succeed is a win for all of us.”
