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Fielding Effects


All raw data supplied courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.
They do a wonderful job, and deserve your support.

Fielding Effects

Through games of Thursday, 25 April 2024.
All results are from true, unadjusted data.

The Table shows two lines for each team. The first is their actual stats to date, from Games through Strikeouts; the stats FEbat and FErun—Fielding Efficiency on batters and Fielding Efficiency on runners—are explained on our page here about Team Fielding. The OR stat on this line is the TPP-projected Runs the team would be expected to have yielded to date (for an explanation of the TPP, see our page here about basic Baseball Analysis). The R stat is the TOP-projected team Runs scored to date. The Δ stats are immaterial for this line.

The second Table line for each team is their calculated stats if their defense were MLB-average. The FEbat and FErun values on this line are their MLB-average values (averaged over the three recent years 2017 - 2019). The OR stat on this line is the TPP-projected Runs the team would be expected to have yielded to date based on the average-fielding stat values. And on this line, the Δ stats show the differences in Wins that having an MLB-average defense would gain or lose (the ΔW stat is for the year to date, while the ΔWyr is for a full 162-game season.

Thus, this table shows us what a given team’s defense is doing to help or hurt it. As you see, the average difference is less than 3 wins a season, and that figure is heavily weighted by a very few very bad defenses. (Without the three exceptionally worst, the average difference is just 2 wins a year, and the widest swings from assuming an MLB-average defense are 6 lost by good-fielding teams and gained by poor-fielding teams, with 2/3 of the teams within a couple of wins of average-fielding results.

(Those interested in the tiresome details of the calculations can follow that link to a full explanation.)

We cannot easily disentangle pitching from fielding, because fielding affects pitching results. But, painting with a very broad brush, we can say that at the extremes the fielding-attributable difference in runs allowed is in the range of being equivalent to perhaps a quarter to a third of a run on the team ERA, with the more normal variations amounting to about an eighth of a run. Pretty clearly, on a team level, fielding runs a poor second to pitching in significance for runs allowed, and thus a very poor third to offense. (Recall that offense and defense are each 50% of the game, and defense is part pitching and part fielding.) Since the extremes of team ERA cover about 2.75 runs (in 2020, 3.02 to 5.75) while the extremes of fielding, even including all the outliers, equate to maybe 0.60 on an ERA, their ratio is—and again, this is very, very broad-brush thinking—around 9:2, making fielding perhaps at most around 20% of defense and thus pitching about 80%, meaning that offense is 50% of the game, pitching is 40%, and fielding is at most around 10%, and so of much less importance than either offense or pitching. (Quite as we said almost 40 years ago.)

— Place your cursor over any column heading to see what it signifies. —

Team G IP BFP AB BB HBP SH SF CI H 2B 3B HR SO FEbat FErun OR R       ΔW ΔWyr
Tigers,
with actual fielding		 25 228.1 941 844 71 15 4 6 1 179 28 2 27 218 75.04% 4.01% 92 95 --- ---
Tigers,
assuming average fielding		 25 228.1 912 818 69 15 4 6 1 173 27 2 26 211 70.41% 9.18% 100 95 -1 -6
Rangers,
with actual fielding		 26 229.0 973 856 100 13 0 3 1 188 37 5 30 228 73.71% 6.51% 105 112 --- ---
Rangers,
assuming average fielding		 26 229.0 943 830 97 13 0 3 1 182 36 5 29 221 70.41% 9.18% 111 112 -1 -4
Yankees,
with actual fielding		 26 234.2 977 859 92 13 4 8 1 188 40 1 22 219 73.65% 8.28% 97 111 --- ---
Yankees,
assuming average fielding		 26 234.2 947 833 89 13 4 8 1 182 39 1 21 212 70.41% 9.18% 102 111 -1 -4
Dodgers,
with actual fielding		 27 243.0 1012 893 93 12 3 9 2 197 36 2 28 239 73.51% 7.74% 103 146 --- ---
Dodgers,
assuming average fielding		 27 243.0 981 865 90 12 3 9 2 191 35 2 27 232 70.41% 9.18% 109 146 -1 -4
Angels,
with actual fielding		 25 220.2 935 814 95 14 2 9 1 187 31 6 29 214 72.85% 8.28% 107 105 --- ---
Angels,
assuming average fielding		 25 220.2 906 789 92 14 2 9 1 181 30 6 28 207 70.41% 9.18% 111 105 0 -3
Mariners,
with actual fielding		 25 222.1 904 829 58 11 0 6 0 183 34 4 28 227 73.28% 7.34% 91 94 --- ---
Mariners,
assuming average fielding		 25 222.1 876 803 56 11 0 6 0 177 33 4 27 220 70.41% 9.18% 94 94 0 -2
Team G IP BFP AB BB HBP SH SF CI H 2B 3B HR SO FEbat FErun OR R       ΔW ΔWyr
Royals,
with actual fielding		 26 227.0 955 850 81 12 6 6 0 203 48 3 16 187 71.62% 7.72% 93 109 --- ---
Royals,
assuming average fielding		 26 227.0 926 824 79 12 6 6 0 197 47 3 16 181 70.41% 9.18% 95 109 0 -2
Padres,
with actual fielding		 28 248.1 1061 930 98 16 4 13 0 221 42 2 28 230 71.99% 7.56% 119 125 --- ---
Padres,
assuming average fielding		 28 248.1 1028 901 95 16 4 13 0 214 41 2 27 223 70.41% 9.18% 120 125 0 -1
Brewers,
with actual fielding		 24 213.0 902 803 80 9 4 5 1 186 26 3 24 193 72.77% 7.04% 95 127 --- ---
Brewers,
assuming average fielding		 24 213.0 874 778 78 9 4 5 1 180 25 3 23 187 70.41% 9.18% 97 127 0 -1
Red Sox,
with actual fielding		 26 235.1 973 880 71 12 4 5 1 195 31 4 21 229 72.77% 4.88% 92 115 --- ---
Red Sox,
assuming average fielding		 26 235.1 943 853 69 12 4 5 1 189 30 4 20 222 70.41% 9.18% 94 115 -1 -1
Braves,
with actual fielding		 23 206.0 846 774 65 5 2 0 0 183 25 1 23 186 71.78% 10.47% 82 136 --- ---
Braves,
assuming average fielding		 23 206.0 820 750 63 5 2 0 0 177 24 1 22 180 70.41% 9.18% 84 136 -1 -1
Orioles,
with actual fielding		 24 216.0 896 826 60 7 1 2 0 196 37 4 28 219 71.13% 6.34% 96 129 --- ---
Orioles,
assuming average fielding		 24 216.0 868 801 58 7 1 2 0 190 36 4 27 212 70.41% 9.18% 95 129 0 0
Cubs,
with actual fielding		 25 223.2 952 846 86 11 2 6 1 195 36 5 25 217 72.22% 5.63% 105 116 --- ---
Cubs,
assuming average fielding		 25 223.2 923 820 83 11 2 6 1 189 35 5 24 210 70.41% 9.18% 105 116 0 0
Team G IP BFP AB BB HBP SH SF CI H 2B 3B HR SO FEbat FErun OR R       ΔW ΔWyr
Phillies,
with actual fielding		 26 233.0 966 866 86 6 1 7 0 187 36 2 20 252 72.26% 6.9% 94 114 --- ---
Phillies,
assuming average fielding		 26 233.0 936 839 83 6 1 7 0 181 35 2 19 244 70.41% 9.18% 94 114 0 0
Pirates,
with actual fielding		 26 234.1 994 886 86 13 3 4 2 201 42 3 25 227 72.54% 4.81% 107 112 --- ---
Pirates,
assuming average fielding		 26 234.1 963 859 83 13 3 4 2 195 41 3 24 220 70.41% 9.18% 107 112 0 0
Rays,
with actual fielding		 26 235.1 1004 902 87 9 2 4 0 222 34 4 35 231 70.87% 6.19% 121 101 --- ---
Rays,
assuming average fielding		 26 235.1 973 874 84 9 2 4 0 215 33 4 34 224 70.41% 9.18% 120 101 0 0
Blue Jays,
with actual fielding		 26 222.0 945 837 89 8 0 8 3 208 41 2 34 211 710% 9.97% 116 98 --- ---
Blue Jays,
assuming average fielding		 26 222.0 916 811 86 8 0 8 3 202 40 2 33 204 70.41% 9.18% 117 98 0 0
Reds,
with actual fielding		 25 222.0 954 839 87 17 1 10 0 198 39 5 23 219 71.22% 6.17% 110 113 --- ---
Reds,
assuming average fielding		 25 222.0 925 813 84 16 1 10 0 192 38 5 22 212 70.41% 9.18% 109 113 0 +1
Guardians,
with actual fielding		 25 226.0 943 831 88 11 6 7 0 190 45 7 22 241 71.08% 9.43% 99 118 --- ---
Guardians,
assuming average fielding		 25 226.0 914 805 85 11 6 7 0 184 44 7 21 234 70.41% 9.18% 98 118 0 +1
Giants,
with actual fielding		 26 226.0 953 864 69 13 1 5 1 222 46 1 26 184 70.3% 110% 108 105 --- ---
Giants,
assuming average fielding		 26 226.0 924 837 67 13 1 5 1 215 45 1 25 178 70.41% 9.18% 106 105 0 +1
Team G IP BFP AB BB HBP SH SF CI H 2B 3B HR SO FEbat FErun OR R       ΔW ΔWyr
White Sox,
with actual fielding		 25 214.0 951 836 98 9 0 8 0 217 37 3 38 197 70.61% 6.33% 135 62 --- ---
White Sox,
assuming average fielding		 25 214.0 922 810 95 9 0 8 0 210 36 3 37 191 70.41% 9.18% 130 62 0 +2
Cardinals,
with actual fielding		 25 221.0 934 844 74 6 2 8 0 218 40 1 29 208 69.37% 9.57% 110 88 --- ---
Cardinals,
assuming average fielding		 25 221.0 905 818 72 6 2 8 0 211 39 1 28 202 70.41% 9.18% 106 88 0 +2
Diamondbacks,
with actual fielding		 26 232.0 978 889 72 6 1 9 1 225 45 10 24 198 70.31% 7.4% 111 131 --- ---
Diamondbacks,
assuming average fielding		 26 232.0 948 862 70 6 1 9 1 218 44 10 23 192 70.41% 9.18% 107 131 0 +3
Mets,
with actual fielding		 24 214.0 929 795 107 15 0 9 3 178 31 4 14 231 70.66% 6.75% 101 109 --- ---
Mets,
assuming average fielding		 24 214.0 900 770 104 15 0 9 3 173 30 4 14 224 70.41% 9.18% 97 109 0 +3
Twins,
with actual fielding		 24 212.1 898 814 64 11 0 8 1 198 32 3 31 244 69.47% 5.38% 105 93 --- ---
Twins,
assuming average fielding		 24 212.1 870 789 62 11 0 8 1 192 31 3 30 236 70.41% 9.18% 100 93 0 +4
Athletics,
with actual fielding		 26 230.0 982 861 87 19 4 10 1 221 60 5 18 205 68.87% 12.46% 114 83 --- ---
Athletics,
assuming average fielding		 26 230.0 952 834 84 18 4 10 1 214 58 5 17 199 70.41% 9.18% 106 83 +1 +5
Astros,
with actual fielding		 26 227.0 1010 877 110 11 1 9 2 230 43 3 25 209 68.61% 700% 131 116 --- ---
Astros,
assuming average fielding		 26 227.0 979 850 107 11 1 9 2 223 42 3 24 203 70.41% 9.18% 121 116 0 +6
Team G IP BFP AB BB HBP SH SF CI H 2B 3B HR SO FEbat FErun OR R       ΔW ΔWyr
Marlins,
with actual fielding		 26 230.0 1027 892 112 11 4 8 0 235 61 6 24 228 67.64% 6.81% 137 78 --- ---
Marlins,
assuming average fielding		 26 230.0 995 864 109 11 4 8 0 228 59 6 23 221 70.41% 9.18% 122 78 +1 +7
Rockies,
with actual fielding		 26 225.2 1021 901 104 4 3 9 0 266 40 3 28 175 66.48% 8.71% 148 102 --- ---
Rockies,
assuming average fielding		 26 225.2 990 873 101 4 3 9 0 258 39 3 27 170 70.41% 9.18% 130 102 +1 +9
Nationals,
with actual fielding		 24 213.0 917 820 81 3 2 10 1 229 50 3 15 196 65.54% 11.67% 110 94 --- ---
Nationals,
assuming average fielding		 24 213.0 889 795 79 3 2 10 1 190 41 3 15 190 70.41% 9.18% 96 94 +2 +10



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This page was last modified on Friday, 26 April 2024, at 7:13 am Pacific Time.