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John Dewan's Stat of the Week
Does a sacrifice bunt have any value?
May 05, 2005 The simple answer is yes, but only in the most limited situations. Let's look at the most common situation to sacrifice: a man on first with nobody out. The probability of scoring a run is about 40%. If you can successfully sacrifice the runner to second to create a situation with a [...]
How do today's sluggers compare against yesterdays?
March 23, 2005 61...70...73. That's a lot of homers, but how does it compare to the Babe? Roger Maris, Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds set their own home run records, but Babe Ruth will always be the standard. Not only did the Babe lead his league in home runs twelve times, but in two different [...]
Did the Cubs and Sox improve their relief staffs in the offseason?
February 16, 2005 The Cubs starters had the lowest ERA in baseball in 2004. And equally important, their starters had the lowest OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) as well. However, as all Cub fans know all too well, it was relief pitching that failed them. Their relief staff ERA ranked a mediocre 15th out of the [...]
Who wins the 2004 Flat Bat Award?
January 19, 2005 The Flat Bat Award is given each year to the best bunter in baseball. There are two ways that we look at bunters. First, we look at bunters who are most prolific and most effective at sacrificing for runners on the bases. Second, we look at the best bunters when trying for a [...]
What about Nate McLouth's Gold Glove?
November 14, 2008 Well, I thought he was the worst outfielder in baseball. Nate McLouth had a -40 plus/minus in center field. That means this: —Take every ball hit in the air anywhere in the vicinity of Nate McLouth when he played center field —Replace McLouth with an average center fielder —The average center fielder [...]
Was the 2004 National League All-Star team selected well by the fans?
December 08, 2004 OPS is an acronym for On-base Plus Slugging. Two of the best individual statistics for measuring offensive performance are on-base percentage and slugging average. On-base percentage measures how often a player gets on base. Slugging average measures how often a hitter turns his hits into extra bases. Each of these two statistics taken [...]
What would happen if the Gold Glove team played the team of Silver Sluggers?
November 10, 2004 The Gold Glove awards are given each year to the best defensive player by position in each league. The Silver Slugger awards are also given each year by position with the difference being that they are given to the best offensive players. There is some overlap. For example, this year Ivan Rodriguez received [...]
Who uses their closers in tough situations?
August 01, 2008 Does it seem to you, like it seems to me, that the only way managers use their closers these days is to start the ninth inning? Usually the best pitcher on the team is the closer. If I were managing, I'd use him when it matters most, whether that's the ninth inning, eighth [...]
Who are baseball's best baserunners this year?
July 23, 2008 Who are baseball's best baserunners this year In the last three editions of The Bill James Handbook, we introduced a new statistic to measure baserunning. It's called Net Baserunning Gain and it's simply how many extra bases [...]
Who has the cannons in the outfield so far this year?
July 18, 2008 Who has the cannons in the outfield so far this year In my book, The Fielding Bible, we came up with a way to evaluate outfielder arms. We look at two elements: Runner Advance Percentage -- [...]