Out of the Park Baseball 19 – Glossary

by Falagar / Articles, Misc. Guides / 22 Mar 2018

Baseball is full of terms and abbreviations that can befuddle even some more experienced lovers of the game. OOTP keeps track of a large number of statistical categories that quantify particular aspects of a player’s performance on the field. The glossary below explains these terms, and where appropriate, how they are calculated.

Note: Some statistics can be calculated in multiple different ways in the real world. The calculation listed is the calculation that OOTP uses, which may differ from other calculations you may see.

1B – “Single” – A single is the act of a batter safely reaching first base by striking the ball and getting to first before being put out, without the benefit of a fielder’s misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder’s choice. This abbreviation can be used to indicate the number of singles a player (or team) has hit, or it could also be used to indicate the number of singles allowed by a pitcher (or team).

2B – “Double” – A double is the act of a batter safely reaching second base by striking the ball and getting to second before being put out, without the benefit of a fielder’s misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder’s choice. This abbreviation can be used to indicate the number of doubles a player (or team) has hit, or it could also be used to indicate the number of doubles allowed by a pitcher (or team).

3B – “Triple” – A triple is the act of a batter safely reaching third base by striking the ball and getting to third before being put out, without the benefit of a fielder’s misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder’s choice. This abbreviation can be used to indicate the number of triples a player (or team) has hit, or it could also be used to indicate the number of triples allowed by a pitcher (or team).

A – “Assist” – An assist is awarded to any defensive player who catches, throws, or touches the ball (after it has been hit by the batter) prior to the recording of a putout, even if the contact was unintentional.

AB – “At-bat” – A batter and a pitcher are credited with an at-bat every time a batter faces a pitcher except in the following circumstances: The batter receives a base on balls (BB); the batter is hit by a pitch (HBP); the batter hits a sacrifice fly (SF) or a sacrifice hit (SH); the batter is awarded first base due to interference or obstruction, usually by the catcher (CI); the inning ends while the batter is still at bat (due to the third out being made by a runner caught stealing, for example); the batter is replaced by another hitter before his at-bat is completed (unless he is replaced with two strikes and his replacement strikes out).

AVG – “Batting Average” – The ratio of hits to at-bats expressed as a decimal to three places, for example .287. AVG is used as a general benchmark of hitting skill.

BABIP – “Batting Average on Balls In Play” – A measure of the percentage of plate appearances ending with a batted ball in play (excluding home runs) for which the batter is credited with a hit. Typically used in Sabremetric analysis. BABIP typically will not remain high or low, so pitchers with a high BABIP can be expected to perform better in the future, and vice versa. The formula for BABIP is: [(H – HR) / (AB – K – HR)].

Baserunners / 9 IP – “Baserunners per 9 innings” – The number of hitters who reach base for every nine innings pitched. A measure of a pitcher’s effectiveness at keeping runners off the bases, whether by hits or by walks.

BB – “Base on Balls” (also, “Walk”) – A base on balls is credited to a batter and charged to a pitcher when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is also called a “walk” because the batter is then entitled to walk to first base.

BB / 9 – “Bases on Balls per 9 innings” – The number of bases on balls a pitcher allows for every 9 innings pitched. A measure of a pitcher’s control.

BF – “Batters Faced” – The number of batters a pitcher has faced. If a batter is replaced in the middle of an at-bat due to injury, the substituting batter does not count as an additional batter faced.

BK – “Balk” – A pitcher might commit a certain illegal motion or action that constitutes a balk. When a balk occurs, immediate ensuing play is allowed to continue. If each runner advances one base safely, the infraction is ignored. Otherwise, the balk is called ‘no pitch’ and each runner is allowed to advance one base.

BS – “Blown Save” – A pitcher is charged with a blown save if he enters a game in a situation that enables him to earn a save (see SvO), but he instead allows the tying run (and perhaps other runs) to score.

BS% – “Blown Save Percentage” – Percentage of save opportunities that were blown by this pitcher.

C / L – “Average in Close / Late Situations” – A close / late situation occurs in the 7th inning or later when the teams are separated by no more than 3 runs. If a player is credited with an at-bat in such a situation, the outcome of that at-bat (hit or not a hit) is factored into his C / L average

CERA – “Catcher’s Earned Run Average” – Earned-run average of team’s pitchers with a particular catcher behind the plate.

CG – “Complete Game” – A pitcher is credited with 1 CG when he pitches an entire game.

CG% – “Complete Game %” – The percentage of games started by a pitcher in which he has pitched a complete game.

CI – “Catcher’s interference” – this is called when the catcher physically hinders the batter’s opportunity to legally swing at a pitched ball..

CS – “Caught Stealing” – A runner is charged with 1 CS (and the catcher and pitcher are credited accordingly) when he attempts to advance from one base to another without the ball being batted and then is tagged out by a fielder while making the attempt.

CS% – “Percentage of Runners Caught Stealing” – A measure of how frequently a catcher succeeds in throwing out a runner attempting to steal.

DP – “Double Play” – A double play occurs when two players are put out as the result of continuous action on one batted ball.

E – “Error” – An error occurs on a fielding play when a fielder misplays a ball in a manner that allows a batter to reach base or a runner to advance, when such an advance, in the judgment of the official scorer, should have been prevented given ordinary effort by the fielder. An error can also be charged when a fielder fails to catch a foul fly ball that could have been caught with ordinary effort, thus prolonging the batter’s plate appearance.

EBH – “Extra Base Hits” – An extra base hit is credited to a batter who hits a double, triple, or home run.

ER – “Earned Runs” – An earned run is one for which the pitcher is held accountable. A run is counted as not earned (unearned) only if one of the following criteria apply: the baserunner would have been out had an error not been committed; the run is scored after an error is committed that would have made the third out; a baserunner scores on a play on which an error or a passed ball was committed, and the inning ends before that runner would otherwise have been able to score. (“ER” can also be Catcher’s Earned Runs for the purposes of CERA.)

ERA – “Earned Run Average” – The number of earned runs given up by a pitcher for every 9 innings he has pitched.

ERA+ – “Adjusted Earned Run Average” – ERA measured against the league average, and adjusted for ballpark factors (but not fielding). An ERA+ over 100 is better than average, less than 100 is below average.

ERC – “Component ERA” – A measure of a pitcher’s performance based on the hits, hit batters, and walks he has allowed, rather than earned runs scored against him.

EFF – “Defensive Efficiency” – the rate at which balls put into play are converted into outs by a team’s defense. EFF can be approximated with (1 – BABIP).

FB – “Fly Ball” – FB is the number fly balls hit off a pitcher.

FIP – “Fielding Independent Pitching” – developed by Tom Tango, a measure of all those things for which a pitcher is specifically responsible. The formula is (HR*13+(BB+HBP-IBB)*3-K*2)/IP, plus a league-specific factor (usually around 3.2) to round out the number to an equivalent ERA number. FIP helps you understand how well a pitcher pitched, regardless of how well his fielders fielded.

G – “Games Played” – A game played is credited to any player who participates in a game in any capacity for any length of time. (This includes a player who is announced as a pinch hitter and then removed from the game before receiving a pitch.) For fielders, this statistic is tracked for each of the nine positions on the field.

G / F – “Ground Ball to Fly Ball Ratio” – A measure of how frequently a pitcher gets batters out on ground balls compared to fly balls.

GB – “Games Behind” – GB is a number that represents a team’s standing in its subleague relative to first place. A team in first place or tied for first place has a games behind figure of “-” .

GB – “Ground Ball” – GB is the number ground balls hit off a pitcher.

GO – FO – “Ground Outs – Fly Outs” – A ground ball is a batted ball that rolls or bounces on the ground in the infield. In OOTP, a bunt on the ground is considered a ground ball. A fly ball is a ball that is hit to the outfield or infield in the air. A pop fly, or pop-up, is a specific type of fly ball that goes very high and does not travel very far from home plate.

GDP (or GIDP) – “Grounded into Double Play” – A batter is charged with 1 GDP (and the pitcher is credited accordingly) when a ground ball struck by the batter results in a double play by the defensive team.

GF – “Games Finished” – A pitcher is credited with 1 game finished when he is the last pitcher in to appear for his team in a game.

GF% “Games Finished Percentage”.

GS – “Games Started” – A player is credited with 1 GS if he is in his team’s lineup at the start of the game and one of these conditions is met: he plays in the field during the plate appearance of one opposing batter; he is credited with one plate appearance (PA); he is the first pitcher to throw a pitch to the opposing team. For fielders, this statistic is tracked for each of the nine positions on the field.

H – “Hit” – A hit, sometimes called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder’s choice.

H / 9 – “Hits Allowed per 9 Innings” – Hits allowed by a pitcher for each 9 innings he has pitched.

HA – “Hits Allowed” – A count of the number of hits a pitcher has allowed.

HLD – “Hold” – A hold is awarded to a relief pitcher if he enters in a save (SV) situation, records at least one out, and leaves the game without having relinquished the lead.

HP – “Hit by Pitch” – A count of the number of times a batter is awarded first base because of being hit by a pitched ball.

HR – “Home Run” – A home run is a base hit in which the batter is able to circle all the bases, ending at home plate and scoring a run himself (along with a run for each runner who was already on base), with no errors on the play that result in the batter advancing extra bases.

HR / 9 – “Home Runs Allowed per 9 Innings” – Home runs allowed by a pitcher for each 9 innings he has pitched.

HRA – “Home Runs Allowed” – See HR. A pitcher is charged with a home run allowed when he surrenders a home run to a batter.

IBB – “Intentional Bases on Balls” (also, “Intentional Walks”) – An intentional base on balls, often called an intentional walk, is credited to a batter who reaches first base because the pitcher purposely delivered pitches far outside the strike zone to prevent him from swinging at the ball. This is repeated until the player walks.

IP – “Innings Pitched” (also, “Innings Played at a Position”) – The number of innings a player has played, measured by the number of batters and runners who are put out while the player is in the game. Three outs by the opposing team is equivalent to one inning played by each member of the defensive team. One out counts as one – third of an inning, and two outs counts as two – thirds of an inning. In OOTP, the statistic is represented as 34.1, 72.2, or 91.0, for example, to represent 34 1/3 innings, 72 2/3 innings, and 91 innings, respectively.

At least one batter must be retired for any defensive player to be credited with any fraction of an inning played (or pitched). It is possible for a pitcher to enter a game, give up several hits and possibly several runs, and be removed before retiring any batters, thereby recording a total of 0 innings pitched (and 0 innings played for the fielders in the game at that time).

IR – “Inherited Runner” – An inherited runner is a player who is on base at the time a pitcher enters the game.

IRS – “Inherited Runners Scored” – A measure of the effectiveness of a relief pitcher who enters a game with runners on base. A pitcher is charged with an IRS when a player who was on base when he entered the game scores a run while he is still in the game.

ISO – “Isolated Power” – A measure of a player’s power based on the number of extra – base hits the player has. (Only the extra base, or bases, from a double or triple are factored into this average.)

LOB – “Runners Left on Base” – When a player bats with at least one runner on base, he is charged with one (or more) runners left on base when his plate appearance is over, unless one of the following events occurs: he reaches base safely without another runner being put out as the direct result of his plate appearance; his batted ball results in a runner’s scoring, even if he or another runner is put out on the play.Another way of putting it: At the end of a plate appearance resulting in an out created by his contact, a batter is charged with an LOB for each runner occupying a base at the conclusion of that plate appearance. This includes the batter himself, should he occupy a base.

K – “Strikeout” – A batter is charged with a strikeout, and a pitcher is credited with one, when the batter receives three strikes during his time at bat.

K / 9 – “Strikeouts per 9 Innings” – Strikeouts by a pitcher for each 9 innings he has pitched.

K / BB – “Strikeout to Walk Ratio” – Ratio of batters struck out to batters walked.

L – “Loss” – A loss is charged to the pitcher who is charged with allowing the run that gives the opposing team a lead it does not relinquish. The pitcher in the game when this run scores does not necessarily receive the loss; it goes to the pitcher who allowed the run – scoring player to reach base.

OBP – “On-Base Percentage” – A measure of how often a batter gets to first base for any reason other than a fielding error or a fielder’s choice. A pitcher’s OBP (sometimes called OOBP) is the OBP of all the batters he has faced.

OPS – “On-Base Percentage plus Slugging Percentage” – A measure of a batter’s production, giving him credit for reaching base and for doing so by means of extra – base hits. A pitcher’s OPS is the OPS of all the batters he has faced.

OPS+ – “Adjusted On-Base Percentage plus Slugging Percentage” – is OPS adjusted for the park and the league in which the player played, but not for fielding position. An OPS+ of 100 is defined to be the league average. An OPS+ of 150 or more is excellent and 125 very good, while an OPS+ of 75 or below is poor.

P – Pitch – A count of pitches thrown by a pitcher (the first of two numbers in this entry of a box score).

PI – Pitches Faced – A count of pitches faced by a batter.

P-S – “Pitches – Strikes” – A count of strikes thrown by a pitcher (the second of two numbers in this entry of a box score).

PA – “Plate Appearance” – A batter is credited with a plate appearance when: he is declared out before reaching first base; he reaches first base; he hits a fair ball that leads to a runner being put out.

PB – “Passed Ball” – A catcher is charged with a passed ball when he fails to hold or control a legally pitched ball that, in the judgment of the official scorer, should have been held or controlled with ordinary effort, thereby permitting a runner or runners to advance or score.

PCT – “Fielding Percentage” – A measure of how often a fielder handles a chance without committing an error.

P / G or PPG – “Pitches per Game” – Average number of pitches thrown per game played.

PO – “Putout” – A defensive player is credited with a putout when he records an out by one of the following methods: tagging a runner with the ball when the runner is not touching a base; touching a base, while in possession of the ball, that a runner on a force play is trying to reach; catching a third strike; catching a batted ball on the fly

Pyt.Rec. – “Pythagorean Record” – A formula that produces a projected won – loss record for a team, based on how many runs it scores (RS) compared to how many runs it allows (RA). The formula yields a fraction that is multiplied by the number of games the team has played and then rounded to the nearest whole number. This result is the team’s number of projected wins. Teams’ actual won – lost records tend to mirror their Pythagorean records, and variances can usually be attributed to luck.

QS – “Quality Start” – A quality start is one in which the pitcher pitches at least six innings and allows no more than three earned runs.

QS% – “Percentage of Quality Starts” – The percentage of a pitcher’s games started that were quality starts.

R – “Runs Scored” (also, “Runs Allowed”) – A batter is credited with a run scored when he crosses home plate. A pitcher is charged with a run allowed when an opposing player scores.

R / 9 or RA / 9 – “Runs Allowed per 9 Innings” – Runs scored against a pitcher for each 9 innings he has pitched.

RA – “Relief Appearance” – A count of the games in which this pitcher has appeared but not as the starting pitcher.

RA9/WAR – “WAR based on runs allowed” – A runs-based (as opposed to the original FIP-based) version of WAR. It complements regular WAR by affording a better measure of a pitcher’s skill at limiting balls in play and stranding runners, which do not factor into the older calculation.

RBI – “Run Batted In” – A batter is credited with 1 RBI for each run scored as the result of his batted ball, except if: he hits into a double play; a run scores as the result of an error; a player is also credited with 1 RBI if he is walked or hit by a pitch with the bases loaded

RC – “Runs Created” – A measure of the number of runs a batter contributes to his team.

RC / 27 – “Runs Created per Game (27 outs)” – A measure of the number of runs a batter contributes to his team during the equivalent of a game (27 outs).

RISP with 2 outs – “Runners Left in Scoring Position with 2 Outs” – A player is mentioned in this part of a box score if he comes to bat with 2 outs and a runner in scoring position (on second or third base, or both) and his at-bat results in the third out of the inning.

RNG – “Range Factor” – the number of plays made per game at the fielding position.

RS – “Run Support” – Team’s runs scored while the pitcher of record.

RSG – “Run Support per Game” – Team’s runs scored (average, per 9 innings pitched) while the pitcher of record

RTO – “Runners Thrown Out” – stealing runners thrown out by a catcher.

RTO% – “Runners Thrown Out Percentage” – the percentage of stealing runners thrown out by a catcher.

SB – “Stolen Bases” (also, “Stolen Bases Allowed”) – A runner is credited with 1 SB when he successfully advances to the next base on a pitch that the batter does not make contact with. A pitcher is charged with 1 SB if an opposing runner steals a base while he is in the game.

SB% – “Stolen Base Percentage” – =SB/SBA expressed as a percentage

SBA – “Stolen Base Attempts” – The number of stolen base attempts while a catcher is catching.

SF – “Sacrifice Flies (also, “Sacrifice Flies Allowed”) – A batted ball is considered a sacrifice fly if the following four criteria are met: there are fewer than two outs; the ball is hit to the outfield; the batter is out because an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield catches the fly ball (or the batter would have been out if not for an error); a runner who is already on base scores on the play

SH – “Sacrifice Hits” (also, “Sacrifice Hits Allowed”) – A player is credited with a sacrifice hit (also called a sacrifice bunt) if he deliberately bunts the ball in a manner that allows a runner on base to advance to another base, while the batter is put out.

SHO – “Shutout” – A shutout is a game in which one team fails to score any runs. This statistic refers only to shutouts in which the starting pitcher pitches the entire game.

SLG – “Slugging Percentage” – A measure of the power of a batter, giving him credit for hits that enabled him to advance more than one base. A pitcher’s SLG is the SLG of all the batters he has faced.

SV – “Save” – A save is credited to a pitcher who fulfills the following three conditions: the pitcher is the last pitcher in a game won by his team; the pitcher does not qualify to be credited with a win (W); the pitcher fulfills at least one of the following three conditions: he comes into the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches the remainder of the game, recording at least one out; he comes into the game with the potential tying run either on base, at bat, or on deck; he pitches at least three ‘effective’ innings (this is the only subjective criterion and is judged by the official scorer). No more than one save can be credited in each game.

SV% – “Save Percentage” – Percentage of save opportunities that were successfully completed by this pitcher.

SVO – “Save Opportunity” – The number of times a pitcher enters a game in a situation when it is possible to obtain a save.

TAVG – “Total Average” – A statistic relating to offensive contribution that incorporates baserunning into the calculation, unlike other offensive statistics.

TB – “Total Bases” (also, “Total Bases Allowed”) – A calculation of the worth of a batter that gives more weight for each additional base he reaches with his hits. Also a measure of a pitcher’s ability to avoid giving up extra – base hits.

TC – “Total Chances” – The number of plays in which a defensive player has participated.

Team LOB – “Runners Left on Base” – For the purpose of calculating Team LOB, a runner is left on base when an inning ends and he has not scored. Team LOB is the sum of runners left on base at the end of each of the team’s innings at bat.

TP – “Triple Play” – A triple play occurs when three players are put out as the result of continuous action on one batted ball.

VORP – “Value over Replacement Player” – A statistic that demonstrates how much a hitter contributes offensively or how much a pitcher contributes to his team in comparison to a fictitious ‘replacement player,’ who is an average fielder at his position and a below average hitter. A replacement player performs at ‘replacement level,’ which is the level of performance an average team can expect when trying to replace a player at minimal cost, also known as ‘freely available talent.’

Multiply the league average runs per out by the player’s total outs; this provides the number of runs an average player would have produced given that certain number of outs to work with. Now multiply that number (of runs) by .8, or whatever level your replacement equations give you; this is the number of runs you could expect a ‘replacement player’ to put up for that number of outs. Simply subtract the replacement’s runs created from the player’s actual runs created, then, and you have VORP. A word to the wise, though: while the replacement’s run total will be park – neutral (by definition), the player’s raw numbers won’t be. Before calculating the VORP, run the player stats through park factors, normalizing the numbers. The resultant VORP should give a pretty good estimate of how ‘valuable’ the player in question is.

W – “Win” – A pitcher is credited with a win if he is in the game when his team takes a lead that it does not relinquish for the remainder of the game. A starting pitcher must pitch at least 5 innings to be eligible for a win.

WAR – “Wins Above Replacement” – a non-standardized statistic that is used to show how many more wins a player would give a team as opposed to a “replacement level” or minor league/bench player at that position.

Win% – “Win Percentage” – =W/(W+L).

WHIP – “Walks plus Hits per Inning Pitched” – A general measure of a pitcher’s ability to keep batters off base.

wOBA – “weighted On Base Average” – created by Tom Tango, is a version of linear weights that has been weighted to fit an OBP scale.

WP – “Wild Pitch” – A wild pitch is charged to a pitcher when, in the judgment of the official scorer, his pitch is too high, too low, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to field capably, and as a result one or more runners advance or score. A wild pitch is not a fielding error; as such, any run scored by a player as the direct result of a wild pitch is an earned run (see ER).

ZR – “Zone Rating” – developed by John Dewan, A player gets credit (a “plus” number) if he makes a play that at least one other player at his position missed during the season, and he loses credit (a “minus” number) if he misses a play that at least one player made. The size of the credit is directly related to how often players make the play. Each play is looked at individually, and a score is given for each play. Sum up all the plays for each player at his position and you get his total plus/minus for the season. A total plus/minus score near zero means the player is average. A score above zero is above average and a negative score is below average.

Falagar

He is the founder and editor of Magic Game World. He loved gaming from the moment he got a PlayStation 1 with Gran Turismo on his 7th birthday.
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