DENVER • The Colorado Rockies have a familiar face leading the charge of their newly-rebuilt research and development department.

Brian Jones, the team’s video coordinator for the past 15 years, was promoted to director a week ago. And while he was an internal hire, Jones is committed to changing the way the Rockies do things.

“We have some strides to make,” Jones said.

They considered external candidates for the director role, interviewing about two dozen. But the Rockies found Jones to be the best fit for the job. Jones already has the trust of the clubhouse and the front office, and knows the organization inside and out.

“That wasn’t the plan going into it, or I wouldn’t have wasted all that time,” said Zack Rosenthal, the Rockies assistant general manager of baseball operations. “The most important thing for me was that we needed someone who can manage the group. If the team is going to keep growing, we want to keep adding good and smart people. Then we need someone who can lead them more than we need someone who can write code or is a PH.D. mathematician. Because we can hire those people.”

As video coordinator, Jones’ job included more than just ringing the dugout to tell them to challenge a play. He worked with advance scouting, player analysis and oversaw most of the baseball technology.

First up on Jones agenda is modernizing and enhancing internal systems. It’s no secret that the Rockies have fallen behind the league when it comes to analytics. And their limited staff hasn’t helped. Jones’ plan is to streamline a system that makes it easier for each department to access the information they need.

“We were in a good place. Then all the covid stuff happened and we haven’t been to ramp back up to where we were,” Rosenthal said. “We’re definitely not where we want to be.”

The analytics department — yes, the same one that did laundry in 2020 — has undergone a complete turnover. After the shortened COVID-19 season, all but one member left the team. Brittany Haby, hired as a fellow before being promoted to manager of baseball research, was the only person in the department until Aug., 2021, when Scott Van Lenten was hired as director. Van Lenten’s tenure lasted just six months, as he was fired in March, a month before the season.

The Rockies have brought in four others to join Haby, all from outside the organization. With Jones added to the group, they are still one of the smallest departments in the league, but hope to add on this offseason.