Advanced Stats
In the past several decades, the baseball industry has become more enlightened -- thanks to an assist from advanced metrics.
Although standard statistics remain quite valuable, advanced formulas and figures have played a pivotal role in the creation of championship teams -- both in Major League Baseball and fantasy leagues around the world.
Today, each big league franchise relies upon advanced stats to some degree, with a growing number of clubs employing complete staffs devoted to their study, development and deployment in decision-making processes.
Many advanced stats have long been tied to sabermetrics -- a reference to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) -- a term defined by Bill James as "the search for objective knowledge about baseball." James, widely considered the face and most influential advocate of sabermetric study, has helped shape the lens through which the game of baseball is viewed.
Relative to standard stats, advanced stats are considered more complex and esoteric. But in recent years, advanced stats have become a greater part of the mainstream conversation.
In this section, you will find a breakdown of baseball's advanced stats. When put in the proper context, the metrics defined below can help fans hone their understanding of the game of baseball.
The following are all of the terms defined within this section:
Defense
- Defensive Efficiency Ratio (DER)
- Defensive Runs Saved (DRS)
- Range Factor (RF)
- Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR)
Offense
- Batting Average on Balls in Play (BABIP)
- Isolated Power (ISO)
- Late-inning Pressure Situation (LIPS)
- On-base Plus Slugging Plus (OPS+)
- Pitches Per Plate Appearance (P/PA)
- Plate Appearances Per Strikeout (PA/SO)
- Runs Created (RC)
- Weighted Runs Above Average (wRAA)
- Weighted On-base Average (wOBA)
- Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+)
- Win Probability Added (WPA)
- Wins Above Replacement (WAR)
Pitching
- Adjusted Earned Run Average (ERA+)
- Baserunners Per Nine Innings Pitched (MB/9)
- Bequeathed Runners (BQR)
- Bequeathed Runners Scored (BQR-S)
- Expected Fielding Independent Pitching (xFIP)
- Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP)
- Fly-ball Rate (FB%)
- Game Score
- Ground-ball Rate (GB%)
- Hits Per Nine Innings (H/9)
- Home Runs Per Nine Innings (HR/9)
- Home Run To Fly Ball Rate (HR/FB)
- Inherited Runs Allowed (IR-A)
- Inherited Runs Allowed Percentage (IR-A%)
- Innings Per Start (I/GS)
- Leverage Index (LI)
- Line-drive Rate (LD%)
- Pitches Per Inning Pitched (P/IP)
- Pitches Per Start (P/GS)
- Pop-up Rate (PO%)
- Run Support Per Nine Innings (RS/9)
- Runs Allowed Per Nine Innings Pitched (RA9)
- Skill-interactive Earned Run Average (SIERA)
- Strikeout Rate (K%)
- Strikeouts Per Nine Innings (K/9)
- Strikeout-to-walk Ratio (K/BB)
- True Earned Run Average (tERA)
- Walks Per Nine Innings (BB/9)
- Walk Rate (BB%)