Headlines

  • DeGrom MRI Reveals “Continued Healing”; Still No Clear Timetable For Return
  • Boras: Michael Conforto Not Ruling Out Late-Season Return
  • Mariners Option Jarred Kelenic, Claim Adrian Sampson
  • Kumar Rocker Signs With Frontier League’s Tri-City ValleyCats
  • Dodgers Place Clayton Kershaw On Injured List
  • Bryce Harper Has Tear In UCL, Won’t Throw For Four Weeks
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 Free Agents
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2022
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Arbitration Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

The Stats MLBTR Readers Need To Know

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | November 8, 2011 at 7:46pm CDT

Baseball is a numbers game and we use lots of stats here at MLBTR. Some of them are easy to understand (Prince Fielder hit 38 homers in 2011) and some of them aren't as simple (he posted a -5.2 UZR/150 last year). So here's a guide to some stats you see here and elsewhere. It's not meant to be comprehensive; there are lots more useful stats than the ones that appear below, but these are some important ones:

  • OBP – On-base percentage shows you the percentage of time a player reaches base. The league average now hovers around .325. The NL got on base at a .319 clip this past season and American Leaguers reached at a .322 clip. To compute OBP, add hits, walks, and hit-by-pitches as the times on base, and divide this total by the sum of the player's at-bats, walks, hit-by-pitches, and sacrifice flies.
  • SLG – Slugging percentage measures a player's extra base power. To calculate SLG, divide a player's total bases by his at-bats. Power hitters like Fielder and Albert Pujols regularly slug over .500, but league averages were approximately .400 this past season.
  • You'll often see us list a player's batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage (always in that order) like this: .280/.340/.450.
  • UZR/150 – The defensive metric Ultimate Zone Rating estimates the runs a defender saves or costs his team. UZR/150 shows a player's impact per 150 games played. Check out this two–part explanation for more detail and keep in mind that it's best to look at multiple seasons when evaluating a player's defense with UZR/150.
  • K/9 – The number of batters a pitcher strikes out per nine innings pitched. Pitchers struck out 7.1 batters per nine innings in 2011.
  • BB/9 – The number of batters a pitcher walks per nine innings pitched. Pitchers walked 3.1 batters per nine innings in 2011.
  • HR/9 – The number of home runs a pitcher allows per nine innings. Pitchers allowed 0.94 homers per nine innings in 2011.
  • GB % – The percentage of batted balls that are ground balls. The Cardinals led MLB with a 47.7% ground ball rate in 2011, while the Diamondbacks had the lowest ground ball rate in the league: 41.9%.
  • SIERA - Skill-Interactive Earned Run Average estimates ERA through walk rate, strikeout rate and ground ball rate, eliminating the effects of park, defense and luck, according to Baseball Prospectus. It's one example of a defense independent pitching stat (DIPS).

Check out Baseball-Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus for lots more stats and check out our transactions glossary and the one at Cot's for explanations of transactions terms. MLBTR first published a version of this post on April 2nd, 2010.

Share 5 Retweet 19 Send via email0

MLBTR Glossary

Duquette Links: Quotes, Free Agents, Drafts
Main
Phillies Notes: Cuddyer, Oswalt, Madson
View Comments (0)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    DeGrom MRI Reveals “Continued Healing”; Still No Clear Timetable For Return

    Boras: Michael Conforto Not Ruling Out Late-Season Return

    Mariners Option Jarred Kelenic, Claim Adrian Sampson

    Kumar Rocker Signs With Frontier League’s Tri-City ValleyCats

    Dodgers Place Clayton Kershaw On Injured List

    Bryce Harper Has Tear In UCL, Won’t Throw For Four Weeks

    Padres Sign Robinson Cano

    Gerardo Parra Retires

    Mariners Promote George Kirby, Place Ken Giles On 60-Day IL

    Diamondbacks To Promote Alek Thomas

    A’s Reinstate Ramon Laureano, Designate Jorge Juan

    Mets Release Robinson Cano

    Twins To Promote Royce Lewis

    Carlos Correa Diagnosed With Bruised Finger, May Avoid Injured List

    Miguel Sano To Undergo Surgery To Repair Torn Meniscus In Knee

    Recent

    DeGrom MRI Reveals “Continued Healing”; Still No Clear Timetable For Return

    White Sox Select Davis Martin

    Michael Pineda Won’t Require Surgery

    Twins Designate Jharel Cotton For Assignment

    Reds’ Robert Dugger Clears Waivers, Accepts Outright Assignment

    Jake Odorizzi Carted Off With Left Leg Injury

    Blue Jays Option Cavan Biggio

    Marlins Notes: Poteet, Meyer, Sanchez

    Diamondbacks Select Jake Hager

    Giants Activate Tommy La Stella, Place Anthony DeSclafani On 60-Day IL

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Trevor Story Rumors
    • Frankie Montas Rumors
    • Michael Conforto Rumors
    • Arbitration Tracker
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • MLB Player Chats
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 Free Agents
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2022
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version