Weighted Runs Created (wRC) is an improved version of Bill James’ Runs Created (RC) statistic, which attempted to quantify a player’s total offensive value and measure it by runs.  In Runs Created, instead of looking at a player’s line and listing out all the details (e.g. 23 2B, 15 HR, 55 BB, 110 K, 19 SB, 5 CS), the information is synthesized into one metric in order to say, “Player X was worth 24 runs to his team last year.”  While the idea was sound, James’ formula has since been superseded by Tom Tango’s wRC , which is based off of wOBA.

Similar to OPS+, Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) measures how a player’s wRC compares with league average.  League average is 100, and every point above 100 is a percentage point above league average. For example, a 125 wRC+ means a player created 25% more runs than league average. Similarly, every point below 100 is a percentage point below league average, so a 80 wRC+ means a player created 20% fewer runs than league average.

wRC+ is also park and league-adjusted, allowing one to to compare players who played in different years, parks, and leagues.  Want to know how Ted Williams compares with Albert Pujols in terms of offensive abilities?  This is your statistic.

Context:

Please note that the following chart is meant as an estimate, and that league-average wRC will vary from year to year. But as a general breakdown, this distribution works fine:

Things to Remember:

● If wRC sounds very similar to Weighted Runs Above Average (wRAA), don’t worry, you’re not crazy. The statistics are very similar — both numbers are based off wOBA and both quantify offensive ability in terms of runs — but wRAA is scaled with zero as league average, while wRC is not.

● If you’re thinking about using OPS+, use wRC+ instead. wRC+ is based off of wOBA and is regarded as a more accurate depiction of a player’s offensive value.

Links for Further Reading:

Intro to wRC and wRAA – Fangraphs

What is wRC+? – Fangraphs

Runs Created (Bill James Version) – Wikipedia