Sporting activities have been the remedy for many illnesses as health practitioners also advised engaging in them regularly. It helps to keep fit and shed weight, and it also ensures the effective working of vital organs. Baseball is a sport used for recreation and entertainment. Baseball is a game played by two teams with each team consisting of 9 players. All Handball games are played with a bat and a ball. Let us know “Is OPS A Worthy Stat For MLB Player Evaluation?”.
Understanding the performance of individual players as well as the performance of a team goes a long way in determining the player that should be on the team and the players that should be selected to play a particular match. One of the methods of evaluating the MLB player’s performance is OPS.
Is OPS A Worthy Stat For MLB Player Evaluation?
OPS, otherwise known as on-base plus slugging, is a statistic used to determine the offensive performance or the total ability of a hitter.
OPS is a simple method that works by adding the on-base percentage and the slugging percentage together.
It is an effective method to use.
It is, therefore, a worthy statistic to evaluate MLB players’ performance because this is the stat used by punters, analysts, and fans.
How Does OPS Work
For OPS to work at all, two methods must be added together, because these two stats are combined to make OPS work. These two stats are OBP and SLG.
On-base Percentage (OBP)
On-base percentage is a statistic used to measure the number of times a player reaches the base.
Getting to the base by any means possible is allowed except for errors in fielding, choice of fielders, uncaught third strike, blocking by fielders, and interference from catchers.
OBP is calculated using this formula:
OBP = (H + BB + HBP) / (AB + BB + HBP + SF)
Where H stands for Hits, BB stands for Bases on Balls, HBP stands for Times Hit by a Pitch, AB stands for At Bats, and SF stands for Sacrifice flies.
Slugging Average (SLG)
Slugging average statistics is used to measure the quality of each hit scored by a player. Players can keep scoring hits as many times as possible.
The slugging average helps to know the quality of the hit scored by dividing the total number of bases the player hits by the player’s number of Bats.
SLG is calculated using the formula:
SLG = (Singles + [Doubles x 2] + [Triples x 3] + [Home Runs x 4]) / [At Bats].
Knowing the stat of OBP and SLG has therefore made it easy to understand the stat of OPS which is calculated using the formula
OPS = OBP + SLG
Illustration
A player is assumed to have an on-base percentage of 0.350 and a slugging average of 0.400.
The on-base plus slugging is therefore 0.750.
Which OPS Numbers Are Considered To Be Good
Unlike other sports where players’ quality is determined by their performance on the field of play or the number of games, they have played and won.
Baseball assign values to players’ quality. Hence, these values are used to differentiate between all-star players, players having a good season, and best hitter players.
Players with an OPS value of .800 are considered to be players having a good offensive season, going a little about above .850, players with this value are considered all-star players, players with .900 are the best hitters while players with 1.000 OPS are an all-time superstar.
Players With Best OPS in History
Babe Ruth with OPS of 1.1636
Mike Trout with OPS of 1.0000
Barry Bonds with OPS of 1.05
Lou Gehrig with OPS of 1.07
Problem Associated With OPS
Every advantage also has a disadvantage, and OPS is not an exception to this rule.
The major concern associated with OPS is that it assumes that the on-base percentage (OBP) and the slugging average SLG are the same, which they are not.
The on-base percentage usually has a higher value than the slugging average, but OPS treats both as the same.
This flaw leads to the creation of wOBA because it considers all the necessary factors correctly.
Other Useful Statistical Methods
Though OPS is an effective way to measure players’ performance. Several other methods can also be used.
OPS+
As said earlier that OPS has a flaw in treating OBP and SLG as the same. OPS+ tends to address this flaw. OPS+ is more like an advanced OPS.
While using OPS+, both park and league adjustment are other components considered but not in OPS.
Battling Average
Battling Average is one of the oldest methods to estimate the performance of a player. It measures the success each hitter made by dividing the player’s hits by total at-bats.
Unlike OPB which determines how often a player reaches the base, Battling average does not take that into account.
Conclusion
OPS is adequate to determine players’ performance, but other statistical methods should also be considered.
FAQS
What does BB mean in Baseball ?
BB is known as Base on Balls. A base on balls happens when a pitcher throws four pitches out of the strike zone, and none of the pitches are swung at by the hitter. After refraining from swinging at four pitches out of the zone, the batter is awarded first base.
How many players are there on a baseball field?
Baseball is played by two teams, each team consisting of maximum number of 9 players.
