Unusual Statistics

Mayer recently asked me a good question about some of the more unusual statistics that are carried on our weekly HARL player and team stats reports such as OPS, RBR, PSP, BAA, XERA, etc.

 

I thought this would serve as a nice little blog post for everyone to enjoy.

 

None of these oddball stat categories count as Scoring Categories in our league. They're just included on the stat reports for analysis' sake. They're something else to look at and chew on when you evaluate players and HARL teams.

 

Here's what they mean:

 

OPS = On-Base Plus Slugging

    The formula simply adds a player's/team's On-Base Average to its Slugging Percentage

    to get an overall value. It's a nice overall indicator of hitting quality since it combines ability

    to get on base with ability to hit for power/extra-bases.

 

SEC = Secondary Average

    The formula is (total_bases - hits + bases_on_balls + stolen_bases) / at_bats  

    A Bill James creation which basically looks at a batter's ability to take extra bases 

    as a function of At Bats. A good way to identify players who hit for power, steal, and walk a lot.

 

RBR = Roto Batter Rating

    This is a rotisserie baseball Points Rating for batters devised by me. 

    It's a good overall indicator of a player's value. The formula is fairly complex: 

    runs_scored + runs_batted_in + (home_runs * 3) + (stolen_bases * 3) +

    (((at_bats + bases_on_balls) / 625) * (on_base_average - .300) * 1000)

 

PSP = Power/Speed Points

    This is a simple Points Rating for batters also devised by me used to identify players

    with a good mix of Power/Speed. 

    The formula is ((home_runs + stolen_bases) * 3) + runs_batted_in + runs_scored  

 

BAA = Batting Average Against

    This Ron Shandler formula is an approximation of how well opposing batters hit a given pitcher

    (sometimes also called Opponent's Batting Avge).  

    The formula is hits_allowed / ((innings_pitched * 2.82) + hits_allowed)  

 

QSR = Quality Start Ratio

    The proportion of a pitcher's Quality Starts to all the games he has Started this season.

    The formula is quality_starts / games_started 

 

XERA = Expected ERA

    This is also a formula used by Bill James and Ron Shandler.

    It approximates what a pitcher's ERA should be based on his base performance indicators.

    So a pitcher with a lower XERA than his actual ERA has been pitching in some bad luck.

    The formula is very complex: (.575 * hits_allowed / innings_pitched * 9)

    + (.94 * homers_allowed / innings_pitched * 9) + (.28 * walks / innings_pitched * 9)

     - (.01 * strikeouts / innings_pitched * 9) - 2.77 

 

RPR = Roto Pitcher Rating

    This is a rotisserie baseball Points Rating for pitchers devised by me. 

    It's a good overall indicator of a pitcher's value. The formula is fairly complex:

    (strikeouts + (wins * 10) + (saves * 5) + (innings_pitched / 1.33) + 

    ((4.50 - earned_run_average) * (innings_pitched / 200) * 100) +

    ((1.50 - pitching_ratio) * (innings_pitched / 200) * 500)) * 0.5    

 

So there you have it. These are neat little stats categories for "looking outside the box" and analyzing players and fantasy teams using other indicators that aren't as obvious as the basic 12 stats we use for scoring purposes.