Lakeland – September 12, 2026 -- The Detroit Tigers and Florida Polytechnic University are launching a partnership that embeds a university faculty member directly inside a Major League Baseball performance science unit, aiming to convert academic data research into operational decisions on player health and injury prevention.
Florida Poly will place a full-time faculty member inside the Tigers' Performance Science group
Under the agreement, Florida Poly will appoint a full-time associate professor of data science and sport analytics who will work embedded with the Tigers' Performance Science group at the team's Spring Training facility in Lakeland. The faculty member will simultaneously teach and develop academic programs at the university while conducting applied research alongside the team's performance staff, an arrangement the organizations describe as unique in bringing outside academic capacity into a function typically kept in-house by professional sports franchises.
Research will target injury-risk prediction and pitcher mechanics modeling
One project will combine player injury histories, biomechanics data and physical capability metrics into a system designed to predict injury risk more accurately, with applications for health monitoring as well as signing and draft decisions. A second initiative will build individualized virtual models to forecast how mechanical changes to a pitcher's delivery could affect performance and physical stress before those changes are implemented in practice.
Tigers executive frames the deal as a pipeline for research-to-decision translation
Dr. Georgia Giblin, Vice President of Health & Performance for the Tigers, said the partnership strengthens the organization's ability to translate research into real decisions for players and that the team expects to expand the relationship in coming years.
Florida Poly President Dr. Devin Stephenson said the collaboration gives faculty and students direct exposure to a professional sports organization while building what he called a talent pipeline intended to benefit both institutions long-term.