Bri Astbury ’24 G’25 Joins Major League Baseball
Roughly two years after Astbury, a student-athlete on the soccer team, first took part in Major League Baseball’s Take the Field program, she landed a position with the league as a replay administrator.By: Emma Northrop ’27 Friday, July 11, 2025 03:57 PM
Bri Astbury ’24 G’25, on the field and at the 2024 Major League Baseball Take the Field programBri Astbury ’24 G’25 spent her time at Muhlenberg developing a wealth of experience. A psychology major and public health and statistics minor who is working toward Muhlenberg’s master’s in applied analytics, Astbury fell in love with statistics as a sophomore. As a senior, she attended p, an annual event organized for women interested in careers in professional baseball.
“I was inspired to get going on my own projects,” says Astbury of her experience with the program. “A lot of the other girls there were already working on their own stuff and I was like, ‘Oh, man, let me let me get going on this!’”
When she returned to campus, the student-athlete on the soccer team asked her coach to connect her with Head Baseball Coach Tod Gross. From then on, Astbury would collect live data at practice and watch old film to expand upon what she observed.
“I think pretty much everything I did at Muhlenberg helps in one way or another. The fact that I was able to do [a major and double minor] while playing soccer helped me manage my ability to juggle everything and my time management skills. … Muhlenberg fosters that environment where you are able to do everything that you want to do and still be successful.”
When Astbury returned to the Take the Field program last December, she brought this experience with her as she connected with various MLB departments and clubs. She joined a breakout group with the replay department, and she was interested to learn how much data gets collected during each play.
After many conversations with the department following Take the Field, Astbury secured a position in the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball. She works in a room filled with TVs that fans at home see when announcers state, “We’re going to review.” Astbury’s job is to record information like the time an umpire gets on and off the headset to talk to the replay team, the play type and location on the field, and when the next pitch is after review, to name a few data points.
Astbury’s new position requires a lot of teamwork, with her immediate team and others at the commissioner’s office. “Being on a team at Muhlenberg has taught me how to handle those high pressure situations while working with other people, because you have that urge to not let your teammates down,” she says. “You want to do the best you can [and] focus on your job so that it’s for the betterment of the team.”
Astbury is continuing her master’s program while working — her MLB role began in March and she’ll graduate in December. She’s been immensely grateful for the flexibility of her Muhlenberg professors and her bosses, who want to see her succeed in education and her career.
“I think pretty much everything I did at Muhlenberg helps in one way or another,” says Astbury. “The fact that I was able to do [a major and double minor] while playing soccer helped me manage my ability to juggle everything and my time management skills. … Muhlenberg fosters that environment where you are able to do everything that you want to do and still be successful.”
