What are the best stats?

[Brew Man Dan]

What are the top 5 stats to use for hitting, pitching, and fielding?

[mothershipconnection]

It's hard to say what's "best", because all have their own value and flaws and kinda depend on the viewer. In my case, I think fall smack dab in the middle of the common serious fan and the stat-head.

 

Of the most common stats, the ones that I personally like the most are

 

 

Hitters

OPS/OXS

Runs Created

OPS+

OBP

SLG

 

 

Pitchers

FIP

DIPS

Park-adjusted ERA+

ERA

WHIP

 

Defense

I put little stock in defensive metrics.

[RobertR]

For hitters I like the following stats, usually in this order.

 

VORP/EQA (Because for some players, SBs, GIDPs, and/or Ks do matter.)

 

OPS/OXS (Still the best quick and dirty method for most players.)

 

BA/OBP/SLG (How you derive OPS/OXS. And because it tells you the type of player you're looking at. A .300/.360/.500 hitter is different than a .250/.360/.500 hitter and should be deployed differently in different situations.)

 

HRs (Still the most efficient way to score runs.)

 

SB:CS (Yeah, it's a gross oversimplification and ignores situational context. It's still somewhat useful.)

 

WPA (I need to be convinced that it has predictive value. But, it's a very useful tool to see what a player actually did in the past and takes into account situations.)

 

For Pitchers I like the following:

 

FIP (DIPs is o.k. too.)

Park-adjusted ERA+ (Because a 4.5 ERA in Colorado isn't the same as a 4.5 ERA in San Diego.)

K/9, BB/9, K:BB Ratio (I think they're more predictive than ERA itself)

ERA

WHIP

 

Defense:

 

ZR/RF/FP% (And a lot of squinting and hand waving. Some of the more modern metrics looks good, particularly UZR, Dewann's +/- system among others, but I don't understand them well enough yet.)

 

Robert

[sbrylski]

Pitching: FIP, xFIP, dERA, K/BB

 

Batting: OPS, GPA, RC/G

 

Fielding: Eyesight. I've never really looked at defensive statistics at all because of their reputation.