Baseball Glossary
I’ve been told that I use a lot of abbreviations and stats
when I post on my blog. So I
thought I’d put up a baseball glossary of terms that I use on a regular
basis. Some of these are fairly
rudimentary, while others are more obscure. But I think baseball fans of all levels will enjoy reading
it and will probably learn something.
(I learned something and I picked the terms!!!) I want to thank Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus for their help on these categories. When I needed to know formulas or didn’t know how to put
things into non-baseball words, they really helped me out and taught me even
more about this stuff. Enjoy!
AB: At Bat- a plate appearance where a
player hits safely, records an out, reaches
on an error or fielders choice or reaches base after striking out
on a wild pitch or passed ball. Bunts,
sac flies, walks and hit by pitches
do not count as At Bats.
AVG Average- refers to a player’s batting
average. It’s calculated as the average
number of hits per at bats. 300 is
considered excellent. A perfect
batting average is 1.000 and is called batting a thousand.
BAA: Batting Average Against- this is a stat
that measures how effective pitchers
are against hitters. It measures
the average number of hits per
at bats that all hitters who faced that pitcher were able to earn. If a
pitcher faces 2 hitters and one gets a hit off of him, his BAA is 500. A BAA
of 250 is average, with anything below 230 being good.
BABIP: Batting Average on Balls in Play- this
measures how many of a hitter’s balls
in play drop for hits. It’s a
newer stat, part of the sabermetric revolution. This measurement is used in lieu of
batting average at times
because it can more effectively take luck into account. This stat is
affected by 3 variables: defense, luck and adjustments. Players can’t control
the talent of defenses they face, they have no bearing on how
lucky they are when they hit balls, and if a player has had pitchers
or managers make adjustments to him (like hitting into a defensive
shift), that can affect their BABIP.
This stat is an effective way
of judging whether a hitter’s good AVG is a result of luck or is more
legitimate. By taking strikeouts
out of the measurement, we see
exactly how successful a hitter is when he puts the ball in play. The
average BABIP is 300. So if a
hitter has a BABIP of over 300, then they
were generally lucky whereas hitters with BABIPs lower than 300
were generally unlucky. BABIPs are
prone to fluctuation as well, but
it just gives us another point of reference to look at what a hitter has
done in the past and try to understand how they will perform in the
future. If a hitter has a breakout
year where he hits for high average,
we can look at his BABIP and see if it was a fluke. For example,
if a 250 hitter hits 300 one season and his BABIP for that season
was 378, then this was likely a fluke season for the player. The same
goes for a 300 hitter who hits 250.
If his BABIP was 260, then that
was also likely a fluke. But some
hitters are able to affect their BABIP. Fast guys typically have high BABIPs
and guys who hit into shifts
typically have low BABIPs. So you
have to take a hitter’s career BABIP
into account when checking out how they did in an individual year. If a hitter has a career 350 BABIP,
then a 300 BABIP is actually below
average for him, and could be the reason why instead of hitting 300
he hit 260. Also, line drives drop
for hits more than ground balls and
ground balls are hits
more than flyballs. So hitters who
have a better
year than they’ve ever had that also have a high flyball rate, may
have had some luck on their
side, meaning their BABIP would be higher
than either the league average, their career average, or both.
BB: Base on Balls- it’s another term for a
walk. In an at bat, when a pitcher
throws
four balls out of the strike zone that the hitter doesn’t swing at,
he walks them. Or the batter has
earned the “base on balls” due to the
pitcher throwing 4 balls.
BSV: Blown Save- this is not an officially
recognized stat by MLB, but it’s widely
used to compare closers. When a
pitcher is brought into a Save situation
and lets the tying run score, he has recorded a blown save. Often
the closer ends up being the loser of that game, or occasionally the
winner if his team comes back and wins the game, but he has blown
the Save either way.
CG: Complete Game- a pitcher earns a
complete game when he pitches the entire
game on his own. If a game goes to
extra innings and a reliever is
brought in then the first pitcher does not get a complete game, even if
he pitched the first 9 innings. If
a visiting team is on the road and loses,
then the pitcher of their team only pitches 8 innings. But if he pitches
all 8 innings and no reliever comes on, then that is also considered
a complete game. As long as no
relief pitcher is brought on,
then the pitcher who both starts and finishes a game is given the Complete
Game. The record for Complete
Games in a season is 75 by Wil
White in the 1800s, but Complete Games were more common earlier
in baseball. Many believe Cy Young’s
749 Complete Games is the
record least likely to ever be broken.
Nowadays, with the new focus
on pitch counts and the advancement and specialization of bullpens,
Complete Games are less common.
James Shields led the majors
last year with 11, while C.C. Sabathia and Roy Halladay are commonly
two of the pitchers with the most complete games in baseball
each year. Halladay is the active
leader in Complete Games
with 66.
Double: Double- a hit where the batter is able
to make it to second base safely. A
common hit with power hitters able to make it to second after driving
the ball off the wall or into the gaps in left and right center, or with
speedy guys who hit the ball down the lines or towards a gap where
they can use their speed to make it to second before the outfielders
can get the ball back into the infield.
ER: Earned Run- a run given up by a pitcher
that he is responsible for. If a run
scores as a result of anything other than an error or passed ball, then
that run is earned and will affect a pitcher’s earned run average. Runs
that score as a result of errors are called unearned runs.
ERA: Earned Run Average- the average number
of earned runs a pitcher will allow
in 9 innings or work. Three is
considered very good, below 3 is great,
and around 4.25 is considered average.
Error: Error- an error occurs when a fielder
misplays a ball in a way that allows
a hitter to reach base, when he ordinarily would have been out. Errors
are at the discretion of the official scorer who is different at each
ballpark. But the general rule is
if a hitter reaches base because of
a mistake on the fielder’s part (bad throw, dropped fly ball, lost the ball
in the sun, ball goes under a player’s glove, ball is dropped when a fielder
takes it from his glove to throw) and the batter reaches base when
he shouldn’t, then it was an error on the fielder’s part.
FIP: Fielding Independent Pitching- a
statistic that measures a pitcher’s three
true outcomes (Home Runs, Walks and Strikeouts) and converts them
into an ERA like number. This is a
way to accurately measure a pitcher’s
performance without taking defense into account. A good pitcher
with a bad defense is unfairly punished when they make errors
or don’t get to balls that should be outs. A bad pitcher with a good
defense seems better than he is when he has gold glove outfielders
making diving plays on line drives in center and great plays
at short to turn double plays. The
only “true” outcomes (something
100% affected by the pitcher) are home runs (the fielders never
touch the ball), walks (same things) and strikeouts (same thing). The formula used is (13*HR+3*BB-2*K)/IP. So you take
the number
of home runs a pitcher gives up, multiply it by 13 then add it to
the number of Walks he allows multiplied by 3. You then subtract the
number of Ks he racked up multiplied by 2 and divide the whole thing
by the number of innings he pitched.
Then you add a constant (generally
3.2) to scale the number to the league average. I used Baseball
Prospectus’ formula, which calls hit batsmen walks and uses different
averages for different leagues. Pitcher’s really only have power
over the three true outcomes, (HR, BB and Ks) and this is a way to
compare them all fairly. It’s
another newer sabermetric stat that is incredibly
useful and was invented by Tom Tango.
Baseball prospectus
gives a comparison of FIP based on outcomes from the 2011
season:
Excellent-
Roy Halladay 2.17
Great-
David Price 3.36
Average-
Tim Stauffer 4.00
Below
Average- Carlos Zambrano 4.56
Horrendous-
Bronson Arroyo 5.68
Hold: Hold- when a pitcher enters a game in a
Save situation, records one or more
outs, and leaves the game with that lead still intact. The Hold is not
an official MLB statistic but was invented in the 80s to recognize the
good work of setup pitchers, though long and middle relievers can also
get Holds. Also, a team does not
have to win a game for a pitcher on
that team to get a Hold, as long as the pitcher enters the game in a Save
situation and leaves the game with the lead intact.
HR: Home Run- a hit where the batter is able
to round the bases and score safely. A batter who hits a home run is also
credited with at least one RBI
and run scored. If some of his
teammates are on base then they will
also score on a home run and he will get credit for driving them in. A home run with the bases loaded is
called a grand slam. Most home
runs nowadays are hit over the fence in the outfield. But there are
also inside the park home runs, generally hit by fast guys who put the
ball in the gap, down the line or somewhere else where it takes the fielder
a while to get to the ball. They
are much rarer than a standard home
run, which goes over the fence.
IP: Innings Pitched- the amount of innings a
pitcher throws. If a pitcher goes
6 innings and comes out before the 7th, he had 6 IP. If he comes out
in the middle of the 6th after getting one out in the inning, he’s gone
6 and a third (commonly notated 6.1 IP).
In a season, 200 innings
is considered very good.
K: Strikeout- when three strikes are
recorded in an at bat, the batter is out. Pitchers and hitters keep track of
their personal strikeout numbers,
obviously with pitchers wanting more and hitters wanting less. Henry Chadwick invented the short hand
of the K, using the most prominent
letter in “struck” and the inference of a knockout, or K.O. In
scorekeeping, a K is used to show a swinging strikeout, while a backwards
K denotes a batter who struck out looking. But at it’s basic level,
a hitter has three chances to swing at a pitch or see a pitch in the strike
zone before the pitcher has struck him out. After two strikes, a hitter
can continue to foul off pitches in the zone and still no strike out. But after two strikes have been called,
if the batter lets another strike
go by or swings and misses, he strikes out.
Loss: Loss- a pitcher takes the Loss when he
gives the opposing team a lead that
his team is never able to retake.
Unlike a Win, a pitcher can be charged
with a Loss after the first inning.
If he gives up a run in the first
inning, then nothing over the next 8, then in the ninth another pitcher
gives up 4 runs, the original pitcher is on the hook for the loss since
his team never took the lead back after he gave up a run. A reliever
can be charged with a Loss if they give up a lead and their team
is unable to come back and tie the game up.
PA: Plate Appearance- when a batter comes up
to hit. It is differentiated from
an At Bat because walks and Sacrifices don’t count as at bats. But
they are still plate appearances.
To qualify for the batting title, you
have to meet the minimum number of plate appearances. The only
way a batter gets up to bat and it is not counted as a plate appearance,
is if an out is made somewhere other than at the plate. (someone
caught stealing or picked off with 2 outs in an inning). It’s not
considered a plate appearance because the same batter will leadoff
the following inning. Though any
balls and strikes he saw will not
count against him and his next at bat begins with 0 balls and 0 strikes.
QS: Quality Start- a start in which a
pitcher throws at least 6 complete innings
and allows 3 or fewer earned runs.
His team can win or lose that
game, but if a pitcher gives up less than 3 runs and pitches 6 full innings,
it’s still a quality start. It’s one
of the most effective stats for measuring
how pitchers perform each year.
R: Run- when a player comes around to score
he is given a run. When a team
has their players score they get runs.
The team with the most runs
wins the game. Anytime a player
scores, he is credited with scoring
a run, even if it’s an unearned run or no one is credited with an
RBI. Scoring 100 R in a season is
considered excellent (for a player, not
team).
RBI: Run Batted In- when a batter drives in a
run. If there are any runners on
base and a batter is able to hit the ball somewhere that allows runners
to score, he is credited with an RBI.
A home run is an automatic
RBI as you drive yourself in, but if runners are on base you are
credited with driving them in too.
If the bases are loaded and you walk
or are hit by a pitch, then the runner comes in and you are still credited
with an RBI. Also, if there is a
runner on third with less than 2
outs, a deep fly ball allows a runner to tag up and score. That’s a sacrifice
fly and also a situation where a batter is credited with an RBI. If
there is a runner on third and a batter grounds out, but the runner scores,
that’s still an RBI. However if a
batter hits into a double play and
a runner scores, it’s not an RBI.
If a wild pitch or pass ball allows a
runner to score, then that’s not an RBI.
Getting 100 RBI in one season
is considered outstanding.
Save: Save- a pitcher earns a Save if he is
the last pitcher to throw for a team,
is not the pitcher who gets the win, comes into the game with his
team holding a lead of 3 runs or less, finishes the game with the tying
run either on base, at bat or on deck, or comes into a game with his
team leading and pitches effectively for three innings finishing the game. Generally a closer comes in for the
last inning of a game when his
team is leading by 3 runs or less and pitches one inning to get the Save. Closers are generally the best pitcher
in your bullpen, or at least the
most overpowering. Many can throw
100 MPH. 30 or more Saves in
a single season is considered very good, but can mean less if a closer’s
ERA, WHIP or Blown Save numbers are high.
SB: Stolen Base- when a batter is able to
move from one base to the next while
the pitcher is delivering the ball to the plate, he is awarded with a
stolen base. If the catcher throws
him out, then the runner is caught stealing
(CS). Stolen bases were on the
decline, but are recently on the
rise again. 20 stolen bases in one
season is considered pretty good,
while 30 is considered great.
However the leaders in the category
each season generally steal 40-50 bases with the occasional
60 stolen base season.
SHO: Shutout- when a team beats another team
without allowing them to score
a single run. Pitchers can throw a
shutout, if they pitch a complete
game and don’t allow any runs in a game.
Shutouts are rare and
generally are an indication that a pitcher dominated a lineup.
Single: Single- a single occurs when a batter
puts the ball in play in a spot where
he is able to reach first base safely.
If an error occurs, or another
player on the base paths is tagged out, then no single occurs. But
when a hitter is able to reach first base after hitting the ball, it’s called
a single. It’s the most basic hit
in the game.
Triple: Triple- a triple occurs when a batter
gets a hit and is able to reach third
base safely before the ball is returned to the infield. A triple is one
of the most exciting plays in baseball as it is also one of the rarest. Generally
triples occur when fast runners put a ball in the right or left center
gap or down the lines. Most often
they happen when the ball is hit
to the right side of the field.
You will also see triples when outfielders
dive and miss or overrun balls and allow them to get behind
them.
Win: Win- pitchers earn wins if they are in
the game when their team takes the
lead for the last time. Starting
pitchers must complete 5 innings to earn
a Win, in addition to giving up less runs than their own team scores. Pitchers who throw complete games and
win the game by 3 runs
or less cannot also earn a Save.
Relievers can earn Wins if they are
the pitcher on the mound or last on the mound when their team takes
the lead. 15 Wins in a season is
considered very good, while 20 Wins
in a season is great. Wins have
traditionally been the benchmark
used to compare pitchers, though recently it’s been considered
less since so many things can contribute to wins that a pitcher
has no control over.
WHIP: Walks plus Hits over Innings Pitched- this
is a measurement of a pitcher’s
ability to keep runners off base. It’s
calculated by adding a pitcher’s
walks and hits and then dividing that number by the number of
innings that pitcher threw. It’s
another good way to measure an individual
pitcher’s effectiveness.
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