Get to Know: RE24

RE24 (runs above average by the 24 base/out states): RE24 is the difference in run expectancy (RE) between the start of the play and the end of the play. That difference is then credited/debited to the batter and the pitcher. Over the course of the season, each players’ RE24 for individual plays is added up to get his season total RE24.

Calculation Example
: In game 4 of the 2007 World Series, the RE for the Red Sox to start the inning was .52. When Jacoby Ellsbury doubled off Aaron Cook in the very first at-bat in the game, the Red Sox were then expected to score 1.15 runs for the rest of the inning. The difference or RE24 was .63 runs. Ellsbury was credited +.63 runs and Aaron Cook credited with -.63 runs.

Why you should care: RE24 tells you how many runs a player contributed to his team. It’s similar to WPA (except in runs), but unlike WPA it does not take into account the inning or score of the game. Therefore, it is a more context neutral statistic. It does however take into account how many runners are on base and how many outs are left in the inning.

Variations: REW (run expectancy wins) is RE24 converted to wins.

Links and Resources:

Run Expectancy by Run Environment
The Book Wiki: Run Expectancy




Print This Post

David Appelman is the creator of FanGraphs.

14 Responses to “Get to Know: RE24”

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Click here to view comments in a non-threaded output.
  1. Samg says:

    What about REW/boLI?

    Vote -1 Vote +1

  2. Peter Jensen says:

    What RE table are you using to calculate the stat? RE for each individual year, by league, or an accumulation of years?

    Vote -1 Vote +1

  3. Ian A. says:

    Here’s a question that has bothered me for a while regarding RE24.

    If there is a runner on second with two outs, according to “The Book”, you have an RE of 0.325. If the batter hits a single, scoring the runner, the new RE is 0.216.

    RE24 would have a pretty glaring flaw if there isn’t something to account for the runner scoring, thus reducing the RE according to base/out states. I would hate to think such a useful statistic could be so easily flummoxed.

    Vote -1 Vote +1

    • zacksf says:

      So then the batter is credited with: (1-.325) + .216 .
      The first term for the run scored, the second term for creating the additional runner (himself). Is that correct?

      Vote -1 Vote +1

      • CJ says:

        Yeah, so it’s the ‘runs expected’. You score the one run you have (you’ve banked it) plus you’re expected to score another 0.216 runs.

        Vote -1 Vote +1

  4. Ian A. says:

    Answered my own question by emailing the authors of “The Book”

    “Yes, you have to add 1 for each run.

    http://www.tangotiger.net/lwbymob.htm

    Tom”

    Vote -1 Vote +1

  5. Ken Williams says:

    I love the RE24 stat but have a problem with the way runs are credited. Why does the value of the run(s) scored on a given play go entirely to the batter? If the leadoff hitter singles, steals second, steals third, and then scores on a weak groundball to second, why does the value of the run go to the batter? It should be split between the two because the run could not have scored without each player doing their part.

    Vote -1 Vote +1

    • zacksf says:

      The RE is already high with the runner on 3rd. The batter only gets the difference between that and 1, or really, 1-RE(before ground out). Does that make sense?

      Vote -1 Vote +1

    • zacksf says:

      Here is a more specific response, though the numbers are guessed.

      Inning begins: Re=.5
      Batter singles: Re=.9 (+.4 credit)
      steals 2nd: Re=1.1 (+.2 credit)
      steals 3rd: Re=1.4 (+.3 credit)
      ground ball
      to 2nd, run
      scores, 1 out Re=.3 (-.1 credit, calculated as 1.4-0.3 + 1)

      So even with the +1 credit the 2nd batter has a net negative RE credit for adding the out and dropping the RE by 1.1.

      Vote -1 Vote +1

      • zacksf says:

        So the leadoff hitter gets a +.9 in the above example, the 2nd batter, who got the RBI, actually gets a -0.1 (negative) in this case. I believe it would have been positive had it been a runner on 3rd and 1 out.

        Vote -1 Vote +1

    • John Thacker says:

      Are you okay with the existing idea in baseball that a batter does not get an RBI for a run scoring on a double play? Even though “the run could not have scored without each player doing their part?”

      Baseball has long understood that a particular batter’s outcome can be so bad that he didn’t really help, despite the run scoring. This is the same sort of thing, except a little more precise and distinguishing between different situations more.

      Vote -1 Vote +1

  6. zacksf says:

    So does RE24 have the same “units” as RBI (and runs)

    Is it fair to say that:
    wOBA is a more sophisticated version of on base percentage (or OPS),
    and
    RE24 is a more sophisticated version of RBI or perhaps RBI+runs?

    Vote -1 Vote +1

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

*