Sabermetric Glossary: Defense Efficiency
Defense Efficiency is a statistic that attempts to measure team defense. This statistic is similar to BABIP except from the defensive perspective. It is still referenced today due to its simplicity. Defense Efficiency does not have the drawbacks of a statistic such as UZR or Total Zone. The formula for Defense Efficiency is as follows:
1 – ( H – HR ) / ( AB – SO – HR + SH + SF )
Read MoreSabermetric Glossary: OBP, SLG, OPS
by Ryan Rigato | Guest Writer |
On-Base percentage, or OBP, is a statistic used to measure how often a player reaches base safely divided by his number of plate appearances. It is an important statistic for determining how well rounded a batter is at the plate. It is commonly referred to as the second statistic in a “triple slash line” (BA/OBP/SLG). The exact formula for OBP is
H + BB + HBP / AB + BB + HBP + SF
The league average OBP for each position last season:
Read MoreSabermetric Glossary: wOBA
by Ryan Rigato | Guest Writer |
Weighted On-Base Average, or wOBA, is a statistic that is meant to account for the differences in each type of hit made by the batter. What makes wOBA so effective is that it uses linear weights as the coefficients for each of the outcomes that it measures. For example, the coefficient for a double is 1.24. wOBA is a rate statistic that measures: non-intentional walks, hit-by-pitches, singles, reached on error, doubles, triples, and homeruns. wOBA is placed on the same scale as On-Base Percentage. The formula for wOBA is seen below:
(0.72xNIBB + 0.75xHBP + 0.90x1B + 0.92xRBOE + 1.24x2B + 1.56x3B + 1.95xHR) / PA
Read MoreSabermetric Glossary: BABIP
by Ryan Rigato | Guest Writer |
Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP) is one of the main statistics used to determine whether any specific player is having a particularly lucky season in terms of batting average or ERA. The league average BABIP usually falls around .300. The formula for calculating BABIP is:
(H – HR) / (AB – K – HR + SF)
Variables in BABIP:
1) Luck: The variable responsible for the most fluctuation in BABIP is random variation, basically luck. An example of this is a softly hit “blooper” that flies over the head of a second baseman but too short for the right fielder to track down.
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Sabermetric Glossary: Expected FIP
by Ryan Rigato | Guest Writer |
Expected Fielding Independent Pitching, more commonly known as xFIP, is a formula used to stabilize a pitcher’s home run rates. The rest of the calculation remains exactly the same as FIP. xFIP was created by Dave Studeman from The Hardball Times. The league average home run per fly ball percentage (HR/FB %) usually sits around 10.6 %.
The FIP formula is seen below:
((13 x HR) + (3 x (BB + HBP – IBB)) – (2 x K)) / IP + constant
Read MoreSabermetric Glossary: Fielding Independent Pitching
by Ryan Rigato | Guest Writer |
In the beginning, there was one man with a dream. But, in reality, he only wanted to win his fantasy baseball league. At least that is how the story is told in the book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. A fantasy baseball league is what led Voros McCracken to investigate the causes for why a pitchers earned run average could fluctuate so wildly from season to season.
What McCracken discovered way back in 1999 would have a profound impact on the way that professional baseball was evaluated. He began to wonder “what if a pitcher could not control what happens to the baseball after it is hit into the field of play?” This question led to a broad field of sabermetrics known as Defense Independent Pitching Theory (Dips Theory).
Read MoreSabermetric Formulas
Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP)
(H – HR) / (AB – K – HR + SF)
A pitcher’s average on batted balls ending a plate appearance, excluding home runs. Based on the research of Voros McCracken and others, BABIP is mostly a function of a pitcher’s defense and luck, rather than persistent skill. Thus, pitchers with abnormally high or low BABIPs are good bets to see their performances regress to the mean. The league average for modern pitcher BABIP is around .300.
Defensive Efficiency (Def Eff)
1 – ((H + ROE – HR) / (PA – BB – SO – HBP – HR))
Def Eff is the rate at which balls put into play are converted into outs by a team’s defense. It can be approximated with (1 – BABIP), if all you have is BABIP.
Marginal Payroll/Marginal Wins (MP/MW)
(Team Payroll – (28 x League Minimum Salary) / ((Team Winning Percentage – .3) x 162)
MP/MW a measure introduced by Doug Pappas which evaluates the efficiency of a club’s front office by comparing its payroll and record to the performance it could expect to attain by fielding a roster of replacement-level players, all of whom are paid the major league minimum salary.
On-Base Percentage (OBP)
H + BB + HBP / AB + BB + HBP + SF
Slugging Percentage (SLG)
TB / AB
On-base Plus Slugging (OPS)
OBP + SLG
Runs Created (RC)
(H + BB) x TB / AB+BB
