Phillies reportedly file lawsuit to block division rival from using analytics platform

Since 2022, the Phillies have been using an analytics platform called Titan Intelligence. Developed by a company called Zelus Analytics based out of San Antonio, Texas, Titan Intelligence has assisted the Phillies in all aspects of baseball operations, including player evaluation and acquisition. Including this season, the club has paid over $2 million since 2022 for access to the platform and limited exclusivity rights.

And according to a report from John George of the Philadelphia Business Journal, the Phillies have recently filed a lawsuit to block Zelus and its parent company Teamwork Innovations from letting other teams, including an NL East rival, have access to an integrated component of the Titan platform.

The suit, according to George, states that the Phillies and Zelus entered a series of agreements dating back to 2022 that said that the Phillies were the only National League East team authorized to use the platform. Five other teams — one in each division — were also allowed to use Titan Intelligence, per the agreement.

But the Phillies claim that Zelus last year tried to sidestep the agreement by breaking Titan Intelligence into four different components — Data Engine, Roster Intelligence: Base, Roster Intelligence: Complete and Game Intelligence — and attempting to sell them to other teams outside of the original agreement. The team says that Zelus offered a lower price to use the platform in exchange for dropping the exclusivity agreement.

Considering that the yearly cost to access the program for the Phillies is roughly equivalent to Garrett Stubbs’ 2025 salary if he makes the majors, a discount wasn’t going to cut it for a team with a $300 million payroll.

To maintain what they perceive to be a “unique” competitive advantage, the Phillies filed the suit on March 14 to block Zelus’ efforts to circumvent the agreement.

The Phillies aren’t the only publicly known client of Zelus. The New York Yankees, according to a report from Brendan Kuty of The Athletic

, hired the firm to audit the organization’s analytics department after a disastrous 80-82 season in 2023. For what it’s worth, the Yankees went on to win 94 games and advance to the World Series for the first time since 2009 the following year.

The founders of Zelus, Doug Fearing and Dan Cervone, both have ties to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Fearing started the Dodgers’ R&D (research and development) department in 2015, while Cervone was the Dodgers’ former director of quantitative research. Zelus’ current vice president of baseball and basketball platforms is Andy Galdi. Galdi was hired away from Google by the Phillies in 2016 to lead the club’s R&D department. Galdi left the organization in July 2021.

Prior to the Phillies’ partnership with Zelus, the Phillies had their own in-house system for analytics known as “Phillies Holistic Information Location,” or PHIL.

The Phillies’ agreement with Zelus runs through the 2025 season.