Baseball Beyond Batting Average

It's been a while, but Mark and Andy are back to where it all started--breaking down advanced baseball statistics in an effort to understand them better. This episode, it is wRC+, a hitting statistic that has become more and more commonly used. Your hosts break down how it is calculated, who has the greatest career and single-season marks, and who have been the worst hitters according to the metri...

Mark and Andy investigate the storied history of Dodgers catchers in this episode, the fourth in their every-position-on-every-team series. Several players--like Steve "Marlboro Man" Yeager--manned the position for long periods of time, while others shone brightly for a few years before moving on. Your hosts use advanced stats to pick the best and worst in franchise history, and also present to yo...

You may not think much when you think "Twins leftfielders," but the group of players who have spent at least some time at the position is quite impressive indeed. Although Mark and Andy can't agree on who the 5 best players were (Harmon Killebrew or Larry Hisle???), we can all agree that the players who have played there are a fascinating collection of Hall of Famers, baseball pioneers, and forgot...

In the latest installment of their "every team, every position" series, Mark and Andy explore the rich history of Yankees centerfielders. We all know Mantle and DiMaggio, but there were many other luminaries who donned the pinstripes and roamed centerfield. From members of the Baseball and Football Halls of Fame to almost-forgotten players remembered only for their unique names, your hosts cover e...

In the second of their series of covering every position on every team ever, Mark and Andy investigate the history of Orioles (and Browns) shortstops through the lens of advanced statistics. Find out who were the greatest, worst, most surprising, and best-named shortstops in the long history of the franchise. Wrap it all up with a round of Roll The Stat, the most interesting baseball statistics gu...

Is it possible to do an entire podcast episode about Astros first basemen? You bet it is. Mark and Andy, hosts of the funniest baseball statistics podcast ever, investigate the history of Astros first-sackers, from Bagwell to Watson. Included is a discussion of the top 5 first basemen, the players who were just below that level, and some notable names that you may not remember even having played f...

Having run through a bevy of advanced stats, Mark and Andy use their knowledge to revisit every MLB MVP from the 1980s. Knowing what we know now sheds a different light on some of the voting. The hosts decide who actually deserved the award in each league each year, and highlight the good, bad, and ugly from the voting. Some of the voting was so egregious, it will have you saying "Steve Garvey Gra...

With Opening Day 2018 right around the corner, Mark and Andy look at a few of the prominent projection systems that attempt to predict what will happen this baseball season. While not getting bogged down in the formulas, your hosts give you an overview of the nuances of the different systems, and investigate some projections, both past and present, to see how reasonable they seem. Also on their ra...

Mark and Andy finally put it all together and bring you the episode that is the culmination of the majority of the episodes they have done so far--WAR. Although some time is spent talking nuts and bolts of how WAR is calculated and how it aligns with teams' actual win totals, most of the episode is spent examining the players throughout history--both distant and recent--who have the highest and lo...

Mark and Andy fight the final battle of the WAR--offensive WAR. This Baseball Reference stat assigns a value to everything a position player does besides play defense. Although there are some confusing/debatable aspects to the metric, it does a good job of highlighting the players who have contributed the most on offense over the years. The hosts discuss the light cast by oWAR on players ranging f...

Finally, an answer to the question, "Why are Mike LaCoss's WAR totals so different between FanGraphs and Baseball Reference?" Around this scalding-hot topic, Mark and Andy engage in a discussion about pitching WAR in general: How it's calculated, its pros and cons, and which pitchers rate as the best according to the stat. As always, the episode concludes with a round of Roll The Stat, the best ba...

Mark and Andy start off the new year with their longest and funniest podcast yet--all in the name of explaining this thing called WAR. They start off with just the defensive component, called dWAR. While they can't explain every detail of every calculation, they attempt to show why the stat is useful and what it purports to measure. Of course, they run down the lists of baseball's best and worst f...

Mark and Andy take a break from the normal focus on individual stats to roll out their first awards show. The hosts give their take on the existing traditional awards in each league, and then introduce their own awards, including The Bergen Award, The Alfredo Griffin Award, and The Ken Phelps Award, among others. Andy also challenges Mark to a new game--Which Was Bigger?--that you can play along w...

"Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing." So why not have a stat that tells you how much closer each play gets a player's team to winning? WPA attempts to do just that. While it may oversimplify things, attributing everything to the batter and the pitcher, it does do a good job of telling the story of what happened in the game. Mark and Andy break it down, figure out what a good WPA is, and...

After a brief hiatus, Mark and Andy are back to talk about how we take a position whose job it is to prevent runs and measure it with a stat in which more runs is better. Pitching Runs is actually not very complicated, but it is interesting nonetheless. Which pitchers throughout history have fared well according to this metric? Who has been slighted by the Pitching Run? Why is Mike LaCoss so fasci...

Scoring runs is the ultimate offensive goal in baseball. We have a stat that can tell us how many runs a hitter's efforts contributed to his team above the average. It's called different things, including wRAA and Rbat, but they essentially mean the same thing. Our hosts take a long, sometimes serious, look at the stat, how it's calculated, and which players measure up using this metric. By the en...

A baseball player's worth on the basepaths has for years been measured solely by his ability to steal bases. Baserunning Runs attempts to account for everything that happens after a batter leaves the batter's box, from stealing bases to taking extra bases to advancing on balks. Mark and Andy break it down for you in a simple way and find a stat that is intuitive and satisfying. Play along in a rou...

Baseball fans are always looking for the next great metric to evaluate players, but what about the truly terrible ones that have been around for a while? What's so bad about wins and saves anyway? Mark and Andy examine the rules surrounding these stats, delve into their history, and list leaders and losers. Finally, the show culminates in another round of Roll The Stat, the stat guessing game that...

OPS+ is a league-adjusted, park-adjusted version of OPS that Baseball Reference uses. Its formula is a little tricky and it has its drawbacks. But, all in all, it's an improved version of the flawed OPS stat that gets thrown around so much. Your hosts Mark and Andy dissect the stat and look at the OPS+ leaders and losers throughout history, and the best hitters for each franchise according to the...

How do we measure defense in baseball? Traditionally, statistics primarily told us about errors committed, but there's much more to fielding than that. Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) is one of the most popular advanced measures of fielding prowess. But how does it work? Mark and Andy break down the stat and look at the best and worst fielders as measured by DRS. You may be surprised at the results. Fi...

Are you frustrated that ERA is not adjusted for park and for run environment? Do you want a way to convince your friends that Mike Henneman was in fact the best pitcher in Tigers history? Then ERA+ might be the stat for you. Mark and Andy tell you how to calculate it, why it's good, why it's bad, and who has been the best and the worst in history using the stat as the measuring stick. Wrap it up b...

To get a true measure of baseball players and teams, many advanced statistics are park adjusted. What exactly does that mean and how is it done? Mark and Andy dive into the many layers of park factors to find out what goes into them, how different sites calculate theirs, and the pros and cons of using them at all. This week's Roll The Stat is a park factor guessing game--which historical stadiums...

Mark and Andy go further down the advanced statistics rabbit hole to investigate the complex wOBA. No matter how you pronounce it, the hosts explore why it is a good alternative to OPS, but one that still has its drawbacks. Find out who are the wOBA winners and losers throughout baseball history, and play along in another game of Roll The Stat. By the end, whether you like it or not, you too will...

FIP is the most commonly referenced advanced pitching metric. But how is it calculated? Mark and Andy do a deep dive into the FIP formula and its pros and cons. Also find out which pitchers are the best and worst according to this measure. Finally, show off your new FIP knowledge by joining the guys in a round of Roll The Stat, the baseball metric guessing game that's sweeping the nation.

Mark and Andy look into the mystery that is Batting Average on Balls in Play (BABIP). How is BABIP calculated and how should it be calculated? What information does it give us about the players it represents? Which hitters and pitchers have had historically high or low BABIPs? Finally, join our hosts in the game that's sweeping the nation--Roll the Stat--to see if you're a BABIP expert now.