Statistics Primer

With this being the first article we have written, I would like to say welcome to anybody that reads this. I hope that you all find this as interesting as we do. Enjoy...

We all know Batting Average, OPS, ERA and WHIP but here are a few lesser know statistics that are very effective at measuring individual performances.

For Hitters:

wOBA (Weighted On Base Average) - Developed by Tom Tango, wOBA measures a hitter's all-around performance. wOBA is based on the run values of singles, doubles, triples, home runs, walks and GIDP in a more accurate way than OPS and is scaled like OBP (.330 is average, .400 is great)

BABIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play) - BABIP is the average of all balls put in play by a batter. An average player's BABIP is usually around .300. BABIP can be used to measure and pick out lucky performances by batters.

For Pitchers:

FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) - Also Devolped by Tom Tango, FIP is designed to eliminate factors that a pitcher cannot control by foucusing on HR allowed, strikeouts, and walks. FIP is scaled like an ERA.

LOB% (Strand rate or Left on Base Percentage) - Devolped and researched by Ron Shandler, Strand Rate measures the percentage of batters who reach base but do not go on to score. The league average is usually around 70-72%.