Much like ERA, fielding percentage is a simplified statistic looking at only a small fraction of the data that tells how good or bad a player is kamasutra contoured condoms. The calculation is simplified: Putouts + Assists / Putouts + Assists + Errors
This is only a fraction of what is needed to play defense. All you are answering is how good is a player at catching and throwing a ball, but there is much more than that. How good is his range kamagra oral jelly? How good are his reactions? How fast can he run? Does he have an accurate and strong arm?
Once you look at all these numbers you can see that Fielding Percentage is only a fraction of what you need to grade players defensively. There are several differnet statistics trying to answer this question, but one of the clearest in definition and description is Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR). This was created by Mitchel Lichman at Baseball Think Factory and can be easily found at FanGraphs.
The calculation takes into account some work of previous SABR guys like Bill James range factor(RF) and STATS zone rating (ZR). This initial calculation did not include arm for outfielders or double play abilities for infielders. Since then the new calculation used at Fangraphs gives a final UZR that is the number of runs that player has saved or cost his team playing defensively including his arm and double play ability.
The use of UZR along with other defensive stats have revolutionized the understanding of baseball. We all know about Derek Jeter being way short of a solid defender, but many other players have gone from solid in arm and error, but with range being very poor defenders.
A great example is Vernon Wells who has a solid arm and a career fielding percentage of .993. he has only 20 career errors in 2727 chances. This along with his arm might have made him a solid defender, but his RF in center field has fallen for 4 straight years and has been a dreaful -24.4 this year. This calculation usually requires a few years to avoid small sample sizes, but with a UZR/150 of -6.3 in center field for his career he hasn't helped his team out there.
UZR/150 is the number of runs a player would save or cost his team in 150 defensive games. This is an effective way to compare players who have differing number of games at a certain position.
The opposite of a Vernon Wells who might have been overvalued by fielding percentage is Mark Reynolds who was undervalued for his poor play with the glove. In his first full season of 2008 Reynolds collected 35 errors with 34 coming at his natural position of third base. His final fielding percentage that year was a dreadful .902 and many said he couldn't last as a third baseman.
The hidden number was how many more chances he was getting to by having such great range. His range factor that year was a positive 6.1 and his final UZR/150 was -3.2, which is much better than people thought. This year his range has been around league average, but his errors have gotten better. He stands at about an average fielder with a UZR/150 at third base of -3.2.
Defensive metrics are still evolving and with the possibility of the new Sportvision cameras tracking players every move on the field we could learn a lot more. Here is a look at what we could see very soon:
This is only a fraction of what is needed to play defense. All you are answering is how good is a player at catching and throwing a ball, but there is much more than that. How good is his range kamagra oral jelly? How good are his reactions? How fast can he run? Does he have an accurate and strong arm?
Once you look at all these numbers you can see that Fielding Percentage is only a fraction of what you need to grade players defensively. There are several differnet statistics trying to answer this question, but one of the clearest in definition and description is Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR). This was created by Mitchel Lichman at Baseball Think Factory and can be easily found at FanGraphs.
The calculation takes into account some work of previous SABR guys like Bill James range factor(RF) and STATS zone rating (ZR). This initial calculation did not include arm for outfielders or double play abilities for infielders. Since then the new calculation used at Fangraphs gives a final UZR that is the number of runs that player has saved or cost his team playing defensively including his arm and double play ability.
The use of UZR along with other defensive stats have revolutionized the understanding of baseball. We all know about Derek Jeter being way short of a solid defender, but many other players have gone from solid in arm and error, but with range being very poor defenders.
A great example is Vernon Wells who has a solid arm and a career fielding percentage of .993. he has only 20 career errors in 2727 chances. This along with his arm might have made him a solid defender, but his RF in center field has fallen for 4 straight years and has been a dreaful -24.4 this year. This calculation usually requires a few years to avoid small sample sizes, but with a UZR/150 of -6.3 in center field for his career he hasn't helped his team out there.
UZR/150 is the number of runs a player would save or cost his team in 150 defensive games. This is an effective way to compare players who have differing number of games at a certain position.
The opposite of a Vernon Wells who might have been overvalued by fielding percentage is Mark Reynolds who was undervalued for his poor play with the glove. In his first full season of 2008 Reynolds collected 35 errors with 34 coming at his natural position of third base. His final fielding percentage that year was a dreadful .902 and many said he couldn't last as a third baseman.
The hidden number was how many more chances he was getting to by having such great range. His range factor that year was a positive 6.1 and his final UZR/150 was -3.2, which is much better than people thought. This year his range has been around league average, but his errors have gotten better. He stands at about an average fielder with a UZR/150 at third base of -3.2.
Defensive metrics are still evolving and with the possibility of the new Sportvision cameras tracking players every move on the field we could learn a lot more. Here is a look at what we could see very soon: