This Rockie is finding creative ways to win

This story was excerpted from Thomas Harding's Rockies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

For the last 16 seasons at the Major League level and 22 seasons overall, as new ideas and technology have appeared, the Rockies have turned to Brian Jones to not only make them work but to also make sure they make a difference on the field.

Jones is taking his resourcefulness and knowledge -- built through the years as a video coordinator, most recently with advance scouting responsibilities -- into his new job as director of the Rockies’ growing research and development department.

Jones, 43, has been one of the behind-the-scenes guys who comes up every now and then publicly. Even as he works into his new role and helps plan future hiring for the department (currently at nine, with three baseball operations members also helping with R&D), Jones still monitors video during the game, along with advance scout Joe Little, and alerts the dugout when replay challenges need to be made.

On April 11, Jones’ correct advice to challenge a potential illegal slide at second base proved correct on the final play of a 6-4, 10-inning victory. The players awarded him the goofy purple chain with the interlocking “CR” logo as the game’s most valuable player.

The job title is new. Seeking creative ways to win isn’t.

“It’s a great staff in place that’s super talented, creative, smart. I’m excited to come alongside them and connect the group to everyone else in our baseball operation really from the bottom to the top -- scouting cameras, international scouting, amateur scouting, player development, pro scouting and the Major League side,” Jones said. “I have relationships established throughout my time here. So it's just kind of being the conduit to the rest of the organization from the R&D group, helping us to provide them information that can help us all do our jobs and ultimately have successes.”

Jones, hired after a search inside and outside the organization, replaces Scott Van Lenten, who was hired last August from the Nationals but parted ways with the club during Spring Training. It’s a department that has been looking for momentum since 2020, when several members left for other opportunities and the club instituted a hiring freeze after the shortened 2020 season.

One philosophy is to put an R&D department under someone whose main job is analytics. Jones has been hands-on, not only with video but other cutting-edge technologies, such as advanced measuring systems and the iPads that currently are used in every dugout.

“He took [on the] instant replay process when it showed up two weeks before the [2014] season and ran with that, PitchCom [this season] and a lot of that stuff, and this year we gave advance scouting responsibilities," said Rockies assistant general manager Zack Rosenthal, who oversees the R&D staff. "He just gets stuff done. What good is anything if you can’t get it implemented? And he’s got a good baseball mind, which will be good for the younger people in the R&D department.”

While working in the Minors, Jones noted that Rockies outfielder Preston Wilson brought boxes of VHS tapes of his at-bats. It sparked ideas. Jones produced DVDs of Minor League hitters for then-manager Clint Hurdle. The baseball and tech worlds took notice when Jones pioneered loading video onto iPods. Pat Riley, coach of the NBA’s Miami Heat, had his staff consult Jones.

Since then, Jones has incorporated technological advancements into the Rockies’ systems for players and coaches, and he's even been consulted for gadgets that have measured and disputed some of the data that are all the rage in the sport today.

While Jones won’t be crunching the numbers himself, his goal is to streamline the process by which analytics produced by R&D members make it to the field. Even when completed, the Rockies’ R&D staff most likely will remain on the small side.

The work must be digestible and relevant, yet must be used to achieve what the franchise has sought since beginning play in 1993 -- making sure it can use Denver’s altitude to its advantage. It will take some melding, as many of the new R&D hires are young or have had experience with other clubs.

“We're the most unique franchise in professional sports, really, because we play in a different environment, compared to our peers in the league, and we play 81 games here,” Jones said. “There are different measurements that we have to keep in mind as we look at players that maybe some other teams wouldn't have to focus on.

“Every day, we're focusing on the uniqueness of Coors Field, what we can do to use this place to the best advantage that we can. We have talented, creative people. There is plenty of information already being applied. We have plenty of thoughts, and I can't wait to dive further in to help this organization.”