Knocking It Out Of The Park

Last fall, Max Anastasio ’23 set himself a goal to find a new job in 2025. That ambition became a reality in February when he was hired by the Cincinnati Reds.

“I just had my whole life picked up and rustled around,” he says. "I got the job offer and I packed all my stuff up, moved back home, and caught a flight out to Arizona for spring training.”

Max has recently begun his first season as a performance affiliate coach for the Reds, working in tandem with the organization’s player development and sports science departments.

“In my performance coach role, I do athlete monitoring,” he explains. “I’ll be in the weight room doing strength testing on players; we do a lot of grip strength and jump testing. I work with them to get those measurements and do reports to make sure that our athletes are not only staying healthy but also progressing. I’m also able to be on the field in full uniform and do the coaching aspect.” 

Max played first base for Oberlin College’s varsity baseball team and continued his college sports career as he earned his MBA at Baldwin Wallace University. He’s delighted to be working in professional baseball now, calling the opportunity “a gift.”

“I’m so lucky to have even been given this offer,” he says. “The coaching side of the job requires a lot of rapport that you need to build up with players, so working on that will make for a fun season of learning. I’ve been learning from the other coaches who have so much experience and have done this a million times before me, so I’ve been trying to soak up information from them.”

Max’s position also requires him to play an analytical role, which he enjoys. 

“I pull the data of all the strength training we’ve ever collected on players and cross-reference that across similar position groups,” he says. “I can look at a player’s history and see how they’ve progressed during their time in the organization. So my main concern has been data-oriented: Are our players getting better at the rate we want them to get better?”

Max got an introduction to this skill set during his time at Oberlin. As an economics and environmental studies double major, he got his first taste of coding languages and data analysis in associate professor Paul Brehm’s classroom.

“Professor Brehm was such an awesome professor to have,” he says. “What I really enjoy about econ is the data analysis. I took his environmental economics and energy economics courses and those were what I enjoyed the most.” 

In true Obie fashion, Max is dedicated to growth and improvement, and believes camaraderie brings joint success.

“I want to build up that rapport, résumé, and wealth of knowledge in my own head so I can be of use to the athletes I work with,” he says. “I want to keep developing myself and promoting my professional development for the foreseeable future.”

Max also imparts some advice he learned from a grad school mentor, who discouraged him from accepting any career that felt like settling or compromising. 

“You could be making a sacrifice that you don’t necessarily want to make,” he says. “Do exactly what you want to do and don’t concede an inch on that.”

If you’re excited about everything the future has in store, check out Career Exploration and Development to learn how Oberlin can help you turn your passions into a fulfilling career.