Diego Acosta enters his first season as the Illinois baseball program's director of operations and analytics. Acosta, a former student manager and bullpen catcher while in undergrad and grad school at Illinois, rejoins the Fighting Illini after spending the last two-and-a-half years working within the Baltimore Orioles system.
“I am extremely excited to have Diego back with our Illini baseball family,” Hartleb said. “He spent five years obtaining two degrees from Illinois while working with our program. He spent countless hours learning the world of baseball analytics with our program and with PBR each summer. Diego has spent the last three years in the Baltimore Orioles organization working in a baseball analytics role. He will take over our operations duties and will greatly elevate our analytics program.”
“I’m truly honored and excited to return to the University of Illinois and contribute to the Fighting Illini baseball program,” Acosta said. “This opportunity to give back to a program that has been instrumental in my personal and professional growth is one I value deeply. Along with my existing day-to-day operational responsibilities, my goal is to leverage data-driven insights and analytics to enhance the player development process and help our student-athletes reach their fullest potential on and off the field.”
Acosta returns to his alma mater following his time as a player development and technology coordinator, working with the Norfolk Tides, the Orioles’ AAA affiliate; the Delmarva Shorebirds (Low-A); and the Dominican Summer League. During that time, he drove player development through proactive data analysis and education, spearheaded research and data-driven insights, managed advanced technology for performance capture, enhanced cross-cultural communication and team cohesion, and coordinated data and video integration.
While at Illinois, Acosta played a key role in pitching development and analysis, data and technology integration, scouting and game preparation, and game readiness and communication. Working closely with Hartleb and the pitching staff with the program from August 2019-June 2023, Acosta also assisted with team operations support, helping with travel coordination and pre-/post-game team meals.
Alongside his work with the Fighting Illini baseball program, he also spent one year as an Illinois high school scout for Prep Baseball Report. In that role, he further developed his experience with technology operations, player profile management, and digital and social media content.
Acosta earned his bachelor’s degree in recreation, sport, and tourism with a minor in business and informatics in May 2022 before finishing his master’s degree in business management in May 2023.
