The Atlanta Braves announced the club hired Mike Fast as a special assistant to general manager Alex Anthopoulos on Wednesday. 
Fast joins the Braves from the Houston Astros, where he spent seven seasons in the club's front office, most recently as the team's director of research and development. 

In his most recent role with Houston, Fast led the Astros' analytical group, while also helping with player evaluations and player transactions. Prior to joining the Astros in February of 2012, Fast wrote for Baseball Prospectus, The Hardball Times and MVN.com. 

Fast worked as a semiconductor engineer for 17 years after graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in engineering physics.