2014 ZiPS Projections – Los Angeles Angels

After having typically appeared in the entirely venerable pages of Baseball Think Factory, Dan Szymborski’s ZiPS projections were released at FanGraphs last year. The exercise continues this offseason. Below are the projections for the Los Angeles Angels. Szymborski can be found at ESPN and on Twitter at @DSzymborski.

Other Projections: Arizona / Atlanta / Baltimore / Boston / Chicago AL / Cincinnati / Cleveland / Colorado / Detroit / Kansas City / Los Angeles NL / Miami / Milwaukee / Minnesota / New York AL / New York NL / Philadelphia / Pittsburgh / San Diego / Seattle / St. Louis / Tampa Bay / Toronto.

Batters
The reader likely already knows, but the author will state for the benefit of anyone who might not, that it is generally the case with these projections that they’re more conservative than one’s own intuition might otherwise suggest. Not infrequently, partisan commenters will respond to these posts with regard to this or that player, saying “I’ll take the over on that projection.” Perhaps, in some cases, that’s a fair statement to make: the relative success of the FAN projections also hosted at this site suggests that the crowd might have some insight into these matters. Still, Szymborski’s forecasts are derived empirically — and, to that end, can’t be merely ignored.

It’s in light of that belabored caveat that the reader is thus invited to lose all of his shits so far as Mike Trout’s ZiPS projection is concerned. Miguel Cabrera, Evan Longoria, Andrew McCutchen, Joey Votto, Justin Verlander: none of them come within three wins of Trout, so far as ZiPS is concerned. He’s a superhero, basically, were it possible for superheroes to hail from New Jersey.

Pitchers
As has been the case in other editions of these ZiPS posts, the starting pitchers included on the depth-chart graphic below are not listed in order of probable rotation slot. Rather what the author has done is to arrange the five pitchers most likely to make the opening-day rotation in order of projected WAR, according to ZiPS.

What one finds is that the Angels probably have the right set of five starters, so far as their organization is concerned. What one also finds, however, is that it isn’t an ideal collection of starters, probably. Right-hander Garrett Richards remains a bit of a mystery. Despite excellent armspeed, he doesn’t induce very many whiffs. Nor is ZiPS particularly optimistic, it seems, about his chances of producing a league-average FIP or ERA.

Bench/Prospects
While not a prospect proper, right fielder Kole Calhoun is a young player who enters the season with fewer than 250 career plate appearances and yet a decidedly encouraging projection — one basically on par with left fielder Josh Hamilton’s, for example, at considerably fewer dollars per win. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly — even to Eric Stamets himself — shortstop Eric Stamets is projected to approach major-league average (or its equivalent in the minors), despite having recorded zero plate appearances above High-A. Much of that is due to his defensive projection, which benefits from +7 defensive runs beyond the already lofty positional adjustment for shortstops.

Depth Chart
Below is a rough depth chart for the present incarnation of the Anaheimers, with rounded projected WAR totals for each player. For caveats regarding WAR values see disclaimer at bottom of post. Click to embiggen image.

Angels Depth

Ballpark graphic courtesy Eephus League. Depth charts constructed by way of those listed here at site and author’s own haphazard reasoning.

Batters, Counting Stats

Player B Age PO PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS
Mike Trout R 22 CF 714 119 179 35 9 29 95 43 7
Albert Pujols R 34 1B 538 68 133 28 0 24 81 5 1
Howie Kendrick R 30 2B 579 65 150 27 4 13 65 11 5
Erick Aybar B 30 SS 607 74 155 32 6 8 55 19 6
Josh Hamilton L 33 RF 591 70 138 27 4 22 79 5 1
Kole Calhoun L 26 CF 542 64 124 23 5 15 66 10 4
Chris Iannetta R 31 C 352 34 64 12 0 10 36 2 2
David Freese R 31 3B 484 46 107 20 1 11 55 2 2
Hank Conger B 26 C 329 31 73 15 1 8 32 0 1
Jett Bandy R 24 C 400 37 83 22 1 6 37 1 1
Eric Stamets R 22 SS 498 49 112 19 1 3 35 10 4
Raul Ibanez L 42 DH 424 47 94 18 2 20 59 1 0
Tommy Field R 27 SS 498 48 97 19 3 9 41 6 2
Taylor Lindsey L 22 2B 598 62 138 23 4 12 52 4 5
Shawn O’Malley B 26 SS 383 41 78 9 4 2 23 15 5
Grant Green R 26 2B 631 67 148 30 3 11 61 6 5
Luis Jimenez R 26 3B 496 53 116 26 2 9 53 11 5
Collin Cowgill R 28 LF 448 47 96 18 3 8 42 11 3
Alex Yarbrough B 22 2B 523 51 126 21 4 6 47 9 3
Andrew Romine B 28 SS 501 49 105 13 3 3 35 14 6
Luis Rodriguez B 34 2B 386 38 84 17 1 6 40 2 4
Luis Martinez R 29 C 282 23 59 13 1 1 21 1 1
Jimmy Swift R 26 SS 434 36 89 17 2 5 33 5 3
Chris Nelson R 28 3B 448 41 99 18 4 9 49 4 2
J.B. Shuck L 27 LF 497 57 117 17 4 1 36 10 6
Zach Borenstein L 23 LF 441 49 97 18 2 14 50 6 6
Cyle Hankerd R 29 LF 210 23 43 8 1 6 23 1 1
Kaleb Cowart B 22 3B 600 55 122 23 3 9 50 11 6
Luke Carlin B 33 C 267 26 49 7 0 3 20 2 1
John Hester R 30 C 296 30 56 10 1 6 23 1 2
Matt Long L 27 RF 572 64 118 23 6 9 53 17 6
Scott Cousins L 29 CF 262 27 51 7 2 4 21 6 2
Brad Hawpe L 35 RF 187 17 34 6 0 4 16 1 1
Lou Montanez R 32 LF 246 22 53 9 1 3 22 2 3
C.J. Cron R 24 1B 536 52 121 26 1 13 63 4 4
Efren Navarro L 28 1B 592 59 132 28 2 6 53 5 3
Trent Oeltjen L 31 RF 403 41 75 18 3 8 37 12 6
Bill Hall R 34 2B 242 23 42 8 0 7 22 2 1
Rusty Ryal R 31 1B 336 28 65 11 1 3 23 1 1

***

Batters, Rates and Averages

Player PA BB% K% ISO BABIP BA OBP SLG wOBA
Mike Trout 714 14.1% 18.6% .235 .339 .300 .403 .535 .406
Albert Pujols 538 8.9% 11.9% .208 .274 .277 .344 .485 .344
Howie Kendrick 579 4.5% 18.0% .137 .322 .278 .317 .415 .316
Erick Aybar 607 4.3% 10.7% .121 .298 .275 .311 .396 .307
Josh Hamilton 591 7.8% 23.4% .189 .304 .259 .318 .448 .325
Kole Calhoun 542 8.1% 19.9% .158 .293 .253 .315 .411 .319
Chris Iannetta 352 15.1% 25.3% .144 .274 .218 .341 .362 .314
David Freese 484 8.7% 23.6% .127 .310 .247 .322 .374 .309
Hank Conger 329 7.0% 20.4% .137 .288 .244 .303 .381 .296
Jett Bandy 400 3.5% 17.3% .115 .262 .227 .283 .342 .278
Eric Stamets 498 3.8% 14.9% .065 .282 .242 .279 .307 .258
Raul Ibanez 424 7.5% 22.4% .210 .268 .241 .300 .451 .325
Tommy Field 498 7.2% 25.3% .116 .278 .217 .283 .333 .275
Taylor Lindsey 598 5.2% 17.2% .120 .283 .247 .290 .367 .288
Shawn O’Malley 383 6.3% 22.2% .067 .291 .225 .282 .292 .257
Grant Green 631 4.6% 22.0% .117 .308 .250 .289 .367 .286
Luis Jimenez 496 3.0% 17.5% .122 .283 .248 .275 .370 .281
Collin Cowgill 448 6.5% 22.1% .117 .289 .234 .288 .351 .284
Alex Yarbrough 523 2.9% 18.7% .093 .298 .250 .272 .343 .271
Andrew Romine 501 6.2% 19.8% .061 .287 .231 .285 .292 .257
Luis Rodriguez 386 6.5% 11.9% .105 .257 .239 .292 .344 .278
Luis Martinez 282 6.4% 23.0% .069 .296 .227 .280 .296 .256
Jimmy Swift 434 3.9% 27.0% .089 .295 .220 .257 .309 .248
Chris Nelson 448 5.1% 23.7% .127 .293 .237 .277 .364 .280
J.B. Shuck 497 7.4% 11.3% .063 .291 .259 .314 .322 .281
Zach Borenstein 441 6.1% 24.0% .159 .288 .240 .293 .399 .299
Cyle Hankerd 210 4.3% 23.8% .147 .272 .225 .290 .372 .291
Kaleb Cowart 600 6.2% 25.3% .101 .284 .219 .269 .320 .262
Luke Carlin 267 9.7% 20.6% .068 .257 .209 .288 .277 .254
John Hester 296 6.8% 29.7% .110 .278 .206 .261 .316 .255
Matt Long 572 6.8% 22.6% .120 .282 .227 .282 .347 .277
Scott Cousins 262 5.7% 26.7% .095 .280 .212 .265 .307 .254
Brad Hawpe 187 10.2% 32.6% .108 .294 .205 .289 .313 .269
Lou Montanez 246 6.5% 16.3% .088 .270 .235 .289 .323 .271
C.J. Cron 536 2.8% 19.6% .132 .275 .239 .272 .371 .280
Efren Navarro 592 6.1% 18.1% .091 .286 .241 .288 .332 .274
Trent Oeltjen 403 6.7% 33.0% .132 .298 .207 .271 .339 .266
Bill Hall 242 6.2% 40.9% .129 .292 .187 .240 .316 .245
Rusty Ryal 336 3.3% 29.2% .069 .286 .206 .245 .275 .232

***

Batters, Assorted Other

Player PA RC/27 OPS+ Def zWAR No.1 Comp
Mike Trout 714 8.9 164 2 9.5 Mickey Mantle
Albert Pujols 538 6.3 133 3 3.0 Albert Belle
Howie Kendrick 579 4.9 106 2 2.9 Michael Young
Erick Aybar 607 4.7 100 -4 2.6 Tony Fernandez
Josh Hamilton 591 5.3 115 1 2.3 Donn Clendenon
Kole Calhoun 542 4.7 105 -4 2.1 John Bowker
Chris Iannetta 352 4.2 101 -1 2.0 Tom Wilson
David Freese 484 4.3 98 -5 1.3 Pinky Higgins
Hank Conger 329 4.1 93 -2 1.3 Keith Osik
Jett Bandy 400 3.4 77 0 1.3 Jeff Winchester
Eric Stamets 498 3.1 67 7 1.2 Geoff Blum
Raul Ibanez 424 4.8 110 0 1.1 Fred Lynn
Tommy Field 498 3.3 75 0 1.0 Leo Durocher
Taylor Lindsey 598 3.7 86 -2 1.0 Martin Prado
Shawn O’Malley 383 3.0 64 5 0.8 Domingo Cedeno
Grant Green 631 3.8 85 -6 0.7 Mark Lewis
Luis Jimenez 496 3.7 82 -1 0.7 Angel Chavez
Collin Cowgill 448 3.7 81 4 0.6 Scott Lusader
Alex Yarbrough 523 3.4 74 1 0.5 Andre Wood
Andrew Romine 501 3.0 65 0 0.4 Frank Mattox
Luis Rodriguez 386 3.4 80 -1 0.3 Geoff Blum
Luis Martinez 282 2.9 65 -1 0.3 Mike DiFelice
Jimmy Swift 434 2.7 60 2 0.1 Rayner Bautista
Chris Nelson 448 3.6 81 -5 0.1 Brandon Inge
J.B. Shuck 497 3.6 82 1 0.1 Ken Ramos
Zach Borenstein 441 4.0 95 -5 0.0 Roosevelt Brown
Cyle Hankerd 210 3.7 87 -2 0.0 Ryan Jones
Kaleb Cowart 600 3.0 67 -1 -0.1 Matt Tuiasosopo
Luke Carlin 267 2.7 62 -5 -0.1 Chad Moeller
John Hester 296 2.7 63 -5 -0.2 Danny Ardoin
Matt Long 572 3.5 78 -2 -0.4 Benjamin Copeland
Scott Cousins 262 2.9 63 -3 -0.4 Jay Sitzman
Brad Hawpe 187 3.0 72 -3 -0.5 Dann Howitt
Lou Montanez 246 3.1 74 -2 -0.5 Chris Pritchett
C.J. Cron 536 3.5 81 1 -0.6 Butch Garcia
Efren Navarro 592 3.4 76 3 -0.6 Rich Aldrete
Trent Oeltjen 403 3.1 72 -2 -0.7 Rob Lukachyk
Bill Hall 242 2.5 56 -4 -0.8 Steve Scarsone
Rusty Ryal 336 2.3 48 -2 -2.0 Frank Charles

***

Pitchers, Counting Stats

Player T Age G GS IP SO BB HR H R ER
Jered Weaver R 31 27 27 172.3 142 42 18 152 66 62
C.J. Wilson L 33 31 31 197.3 180 77 16 180 82 77
Tyler Skaggs L 22 28 27 158.3 140 63 14 148 72 67
Hector Santiago L 26 34 18 122.7 113 53 13 112 56 52
Ernesto Frieri R 28 66 0 68.3 96 30 8 50 25 23
Joe Smith R 30 70 0 63.3 54 23 5 56 25 23
Jerome Williams R 32 30 19 139.3 94 40 19 147 75 70
Garrett Richards R 26 40 19 139.0 95 54 14 145 74 69
Dane de la Rosa R 31 70 0 69.7 65 29 6 62 30 28
Fernando Salas R 29 59 0 58.7 55 18 6 53 26 24
Tommy Hanson R 27 23 22 125.7 113 47 20 129 71 66
R.J. Alvarez R 23 34 0 42.3 47 23 4 36 19 18
Wade LeBlanc L 29 34 20 130.0 88 41 18 141 73 68
Sean Burnett L 31 42 0 34.0 29 11 4 33 16 15
Michael Kohn R 28 65 0 58.7 61 26 8 52 28 26
Michael Morin R 23 46 0 54.3 42 15 6 55 27 25
Kevin Jepsen R 29 54 0 49.0 43 19 6 49 25 23
Matt Shoemaker R 27 27 27 165.7 100 38 24 192 96 90
Mark Mulder R 36 9 0 10.7 7 4 1 11 6 6
Clay Rapada L 33 50 0 33.0 26 15 3 32 17 16
Brian Moran L 25 48 0 63.7 56 20 8 64 32 30
Nick Maronde L 24 45 7 71.3 57 33 9 72 40 37
Rob Delaney R 29 35 0 47.3 27 17 4 50 25 23
Joe Blanton R 33 23 18 118.0 95 25 20 133 70 65
Ryan Brasier R 26 51 0 62.0 46 27 7 63 33 31
Michael Roth L 24 24 13 64.7 50 32 9 70 41 38
Jeremy Berg R 27 52 0 73.3 51 25 9 77 40 37
Chad Cordero R 32 55 0 54.0 32 15 7 60 31 29
Josh Wall R 27 56 0 60.7 45 26 7 63 34 32
Billy Buckner R 30 23 21 109.3 65 47 16 120 70 65
Robert Carson L 25 59 0 66.0 43 27 9 69 39 36
Kip Wells R 37 9 8 39.7 17 25 6 47 30 28
Cory Rasmus R 26 62 0 61.0 54 41 8 60 36 34
Mark Sappington R 23 26 26 134.3 96 79 17 139 85 79
Buddy Boshers L 26 57 1 64.0 51 40 8 65 40 37
Chris Volstad R 27 29 26 149.3 78 51 21 175 94 88
Fernando Cabrera R 32 52 1 62.0 46 31 10 66 40 37
Ryan Chaffee R 26 53 0 56.3 51 43 7 55 36 34
Brandon Hynick R 29 23 20 112.0 57 37 21 131 77 72
Barry Enright R 28 27 25 131.7 75 53 27 158 96 90

***

Pitchers, Rates and Averages

Player IP TBF K% BB% BABIP ERA FIP ERA- FIP-
Jered Weaver 172.3 711 20.0% 5.9% .266 3.24 3.73 84 96
C.J. Wilson 197.3 849 21.2% 9.1% .288 3.51 3.68 91 95
Tyler Skaggs 158.3 686 20.4% 9.2% .291 3.81 3.93 98 101
Hector Santiago 122.7 533 21.2% 9.9% .289 3.82 4.25 98 110
Ernesto Frieri 68.3 285 33.7% 10.5% .290 3.03 3.40 78 88
Joe Smith 63.3 269 20.1% 8.6% .276 3.27 3.61 84 93
Jerome Williams 139.3 605 15.5% 6.6% .286 4.52 4.57 117 118
Garrett Richards 139.0 616 15.4% 8.8% .292 4.47 4.35 115 112
Dane de la Rosa 69.7 300 21.7% 9.7% .283 3.62 3.75 93 97
Fernando Salas 58.7 247 22.3% 7.3% .283 3.68 3.52 95 91
Tommy Hanson 125.7 553 20.4% 8.5% .295 4.73 4.62 122 119
R.J. Alvarez 42.3 186 25.3% 12.4% .294 3.83 4.05 99 104
Wade LeBlanc 130.0 572 15.4% 7.2% .294 4.71 4.68 121 121
Sean Burnett 34.0 146 19.9% 7.5% .290 3.97 3.99 102 103
Michael Kohn 58.7 254 24.0% 10.2% .282 3.99 4.27 103 110
Michael Morin 54.3 233 18.0% 6.4% .294 4.14 3.97 107 102
Kevin Jepsen 49.0 215 20.0% 8.8% .297 4.22 4.14 109 107
Matt Shoemaker 165.7 727 13.8% 5.2% .303 4.89 4.74 126 122
Mark Mulder 10.7 47 14.9% 8.5% .285 5.06 4.23 130 109
Clay Rapada 33.0 146 17.8% 10.3% .290 4.36 4.35 112 112
Brian Moran 63.7 275 20.4% 7.3% .299 4.24 4.06 109 105
Nick Maronde 71.3 319 17.9% 10.3% .292 4.67 4.71 120 122
Rob Delaney 47.3 209 12.9% 8.1% .289 4.37 4.24 113 109
Joe Blanton 118.0 512 18.6% 4.9% .306 4.96 4.45 128 115
Ryan Brasier 62.0 276 16.7% 9.8% .292 4.50 4.68 116 121
Michael Roth 64.7 296 16.9% 10.8% .305 5.29 5.13 136 132
Jeremy Berg 73.3 322 15.8% 7.8% .292 4.54 4.55 117 117
Chad Cordero 54.0 237 13.5% 6.3% .294 4.83 4.64 125 120
Josh Wall 60.7 271 16.6% 9.6% .296 4.75 4.60 122 119
Billy Buckner 109.3 495 13.1% 9.5% .289 5.35 5.40 138 139
Robert Carson 66.0 294 14.6% 9.2% .284 4.91 4.99 127 129
Kip Wells 39.7 191 8.9% 13.1% .291 6.35 6.27 164 162
Cory Rasmus 61.0 284 19.0% 14.4% .294 5.02 5.25 129 135
Mark Sappington 134.3 621 15.5% 12.7% .291 5.29 5.38 136 139
Buddy Boshers 64.0 297 17.2% 13.5% .294 5.20 5.20 134 134
Chris Volstad 149.3 674 11.6% 7.6% .298 5.30 5.09 137 131
Fernando Cabrera 62.0 283 16.3% 11.0% .292 5.37 5.41 138 139
Ryan Chaffee 56.3 267 19.1% 16.1% .296 5.43 5.35 140 138
Brandon Hynick 112.0 504 11.3% 7.3% .289 5.79 5.83 149 150
Barry Enright 131.7 606 12.4% 8.7% .296 6.15 6.09 159 157

***

Pitchers, Assorted Other

Player IP K/9 BB/9 HR/9 ERA+ zWAR No. 1 Comp
Jered Weaver 172.3 7.42 2.19 0.94 117 3.3 Chris Bosio
C.J. Wilson 197.3 8.21 3.51 0.73 108 3.1 Doug Davis
Tyler Skaggs 158.3 7.96 3.58 0.80 99 1.9 Paul Maholm
Hector Santiago 122.7 8.29 3.89 0.95 99 1.3 Bobby Jones
Ernesto Frieri 68.3 12.65 3.95 1.05 125 0.8 Bryan Harvey
Joe Smith 63.3 7.68 3.27 0.71 116 0.6 Cory Bailey
Jerome Williams 139.3 6.07 2.58 1.23 84 0.4 Ramon Ortiz
Garrett Richards 139.0 6.15 3.50 0.91 85 0.4 Chris Hook
Dane de la Rosa 69.7 8.39 3.74 0.77 104 0.3 Marc Wilkins
Fernando Salas 58.7 8.43 2.76 0.92 103 0.2 Scott Bankhead
Tommy Hanson 125.7 8.09 3.37 1.43 80 0.1 Dave Mlicki
R.J. Alvarez 42.3 10.00 4.89 0.85 99 0.1 Eric Cammack
Wade LeBlanc 130.0 6.09 2.84 1.25 80 0.1 Brian Abraham
Sean Burnett 34.0 7.68 2.91 1.06 95 0.0 Brian Shouse
Michael Kohn 58.7 9.35 3.99 1.23 95 0.0 Bo Donaldson
Michael Morin 54.3 6.96 2.49 0.99 91 -0.1 John Doherty
Kevin Jepsen 49.0 7.90 3.49 1.10 89 -0.1 Jesus Colome
Matt Shoemaker 165.7 5.43 2.06 1.30 77 -0.1 Brian Meadows
Mark Mulder 10.7 5.89 3.36 0.84 75 -0.1 Ben Weber
Clay Rapada 33.0 7.09 4.09 0.82 87 -0.1 Pedro Borbon
Brian Moran 63.7 7.91 2.83 1.13 89 -0.2 Ron Flores
Nick Maronde 71.3 7.19 4.17 1.14 81 -0.2 Keith Helton
Rob Delaney 47.3 5.14 3.23 0.76 86 -0.2 Gary Wagner
Joe Blanton 118.0 7.25 1.91 1.53 76 -0.2 Brian Tollberg
Ryan Brasier 62.0 6.68 3.92 1.02 84 -0.4 William Vaughan
Michael Roth 64.7 6.96 4.45 1.25 71 -0.4 Luis Ramirez
Jeremy Berg 73.3 6.26 3.07 1.11 83 -0.5 Richie Barker
Chad Cordero 54.0 5.33 2.50 1.17 78 -0.5 Chuck Crim
Josh Wall 60.7 6.67 3.86 1.04 80 -0.5 Rick Greene
Billy Buckner 109.3 5.35 3.87 1.32 71 -0.7 Ryan Jensen
Robert Carson 66.0 5.86 3.68 1.23 77 -0.7 Kevin Ohme
Kip Wells 39.7 3.85 5.67 1.36 59 -0.7 Ed Riley
Cory Rasmus 61.0 7.97 6.05 1.18 75 -0.7 Terry Bross
Mark Sappington 134.3 6.43 5.29 1.14 71 -0.8 Ken Pumphrey
Buddy Boshers 64.0 7.17 5.63 1.13 73 -0.9 Justin Lamber
Chris Volstad 149.3 4.70 3.07 1.27 71 -0.9 Kyle Middleton
Fernando Cabrera 62.0 6.68 4.50 1.45 70 -1.0 Mike Sullivan
Ryan Chaffee 56.3 8.15 6.87 1.12 70 -1.0 Bill Bene
Brandon Hynick 112.0 4.58 2.97 1.69 65 -1.3 Jared Gothreaux
Barry Enright 131.7 5.13 3.62 1.85 61 -2.1 Giovanni Carrara

***

Disclaimer: ZiPS projections are computer-based projections of performance. Performances have not been allocated to predicted playing time in the majors — many of the players listed above are unlikely to play in the majors at all in 2014. ZiPS is projecting equivalent production — a .240 ZiPS projection may end up being .280 in AAA or .300 in AA, for example. Whether or not a player will play is one of many non-statistical factors one has to take into account when predicting the future.

Players are listed with their most recent teams unless Dan has made a mistake. This is very possible as a lot of minor-league signings are generally unreported in the offseason.

ZiPS is projecting based on the AL having a 4.04 ERA and the NL having a 3.81 ERA.

Players that are expected to be out due to injury are still projected. More information is always better than less information and a computer isn’t what should be projecting the injury status of, for example, a pitcher with Tommy John surgery.

Regarding ERA+ vs. ERA- (and FIP+ vs. FIP-) and the differences therein: as Patriot notes here, they are not simply mirror images of each other. Writes Patriot: “ERA+ does not tell you that a pitcher’s ERA was X% less or more than the league’s ERA. It tells you that the league’s ERA was X% less or more than the pitcher’s ERA.”

Both hitters and pitchers are ranked by projected zWAR — which is to say, WAR values as calculated by Dan Szymborski, whose surname is spelled with a z. WAR values might differ slightly from those which appear in full release of ZiPS. Finally, Szymborski will advise anyone against — and might karate chop anyone guilty of — merely adding up WAR totals on depth chart to produce projected team WAR.





Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.

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asisson10
10 years ago

Why is Pujols listed as 2 WAR on the graphic and 3 WAR in the charts?