OBP
Description:
On-Base Percentage (OBP) measures the most important thing a batter can do at the plate: not make an out. Since a team only gets 27 outs per game, making outs at a high rate isn’t a good thing – that is, if you want to win. Players with high on-base percentages avoid making outs and reach base at a high rate, prolonging games and giving their team more opportunities to score.
The formula for OBP is very simple:
OBP has become synonymous with the book “Moneyball” because at in the early 2000s, teams weren’t properly valuing players with high OBPs and the Oakland A’s could swipe talented players for cheap. These days, all teams (with the apparent exception of the Royals) have come to accept how vitally important OBP is to their team’s success.
Context:
2010 OBP Values
Things to Remember:
- OBP is more valuable than Batting Average in measuring a player’s offensive value because it takes into account hits and walks. A player could bat over .300, but if they don’t walk at all, they’re not helping their team as much as a .270 hitter with a .380 OBP.
- A player’s OBP is a good predictor of their future OBP after 500 plate appearances. So if Pujols has a .500 OBP after only 50 plate appearances, don’t expect him to continue reaching base at that rate.
Links for Further Reading:
1
You should leave the biases out if it’s supposed to be a research tool. Your opinion about which stats are more valuable to success should be saved for your blog entries, to me it just looks unprofessional here.
I appreciate the input, but this is meant to be a learning tool. Everything I stated on this page is based in fact, so I’m willing to stick with it as is.
Wasn’t trying to sound snarky, it was just the first thing I noticed. Overall it was fun to browse through, thanks for putting it up.
That’s fine, thanks. I actually improved the tone a lot before moving it over…it used to be even more laid back. I’ll keep it in mind going forward.
Whether it’s professional or unprofessional your explanation was helpful. Thanks!