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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 Wednesday, 11 June 2025.
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 Defense. 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
Rangers,
with actual fielding		 68 591.0 2412 2184 188 19 6 14 1 488 84 6 58 525 73.47% 9.62% 224 242 --- ---
Rangers,
assuming average fielding		 68 591.0 2352 2129 183 19 6 14 1 476 82 6 57 512 71.06% 8.64% 237 242 -1 -4
Rays,
with actual fielding		 68 609.1 2489 2268 178 26 3 12 2 534 86 3 90 543 73.09% 12.22% 265 290 --- ---
Rays,
assuming average fielding		 68 609.1 2427 2211 174 25 3 12 2 521 84 3 88 529 71.06% 8.64% 278 290 -2 -4
Reds,
with actual fielding		 69 611.0 2540 2275 206 27 15 16 1 522 111 7 78 553 73.49% 8.54% 270 297 --- ---
Reds,
assuming average fielding		 69 611.0 2477 2218 201 26 15 16 1 509 108 7 76 539 71.06% 8.64% 280 297 -2 -3
Padres,
with actual fielding		 67 596.0 2494 2210 226 26 9 21 2 500 91 6 66 581 72.76% 7.83% 255 271 --- ---
Padres,
assuming average fielding		 67 596.0 2432 2155 220 25 9 20 2 488 89 6 64 566 71.06% 8.64% 260 271 0 -2
Pirates,
with actual fielding		 69 613.0 2545 2284 207 25 9 20 0 531 126 11 56 512 72.78% 9.25% 257 251 --- ---
Pirates,
assuming average fielding		 69 613.0 2481 2227 202 24 9 20 0 518 123 11 55 499 71.06% 8.64% 264 251 -1 -2
Braves,
with actual fielding		 67 591.1 2459 2191 218 27 9 14 0 505 107 8 75 595 72.15% 9.63% 262 287 --- ---
Braves,
assuming average fielding		 67 591.1 2398 2136 213 26 9 14 0 492 104 8 73 580 71.06% 8.64% 267 287 0 -2
Team G IP BFP AB BB HBP SH SF CI H 2B 3B HR SO FEbat FErun OR R       ΔW ΔWyr
Blue Jays,
with actual fielding		 68 607.2 2534 2283 202 30 3 16 0 539 93 5 95 610 72.20% 9.54% 285 301 --- ---
Blue Jays,
assuming average fielding		 68 607.2 2471 2226 197 29 3 16 0 526 91 5 93 595 71.06% 8.64% 288 301 -1 -1
Royals,
with actual fielding		 68 605.2 2515 2277 199 19 7 12 1 536 103 8 67 554 720% 9.11% 252 258 --- ---
Royals,
assuming average fielding		 68 605.2 2452 2220 194 19 7 12 1 523 100 8 65 540 71.06% 8.64% 253 258 0 -1
Astros,
with actual fielding		 67 590.1 2435 2175 211 22 8 16 3 476 109 6 63 648 72.24% 7.39% 240 279 --- ---
Astros,
assuming average fielding		 67 590.1 2374 2121 206 21 8 16 3 464 106 6 61 632 71.06% 8.64% 244 279 0 -1
Cubs,
with actual fielding		 68 607.2 2535 2294 191 22 10 16 2 567 94 12 73 527 71.28% 10.10% 274 368 --- ---
Cubs,
assuming average fielding		 68 607.2 2472 2237 186 21 10 16 2 553 92 12 71 514 71.06% 8.64% 272 368 0 0
Tigers,
with actual fielding		 69 613.1 2532 2278 194 30 9 19 2 524 89 9 66 589 72.26% 9.54% 251 308 --- ---
Tigers,
assuming average fielding		 69 613.1 2469 2221 189 29 9 19 2 511 87 9 64 574 71.06% 8.64% 253 308 0 0
Brewers,
with actual fielding		 69 611.1 2605 2300 249 22 13 19 2 552 96 8 73 569 71.66% 7.78% 287 283 --- ---
Brewers,
assuming average fielding		 69 611.1 2540 2243 243 21 13 19 2 538 94 8 71 555 71.06% 8.64% 286 283 0 0
Yankees,
with actual fielding		 66 584.0 2437 2181 221 16 5 13 1 481 95 6 68 621 72.65% 6.68% 248 375 --- ---
Yankees,
assuming average fielding		 66 584.0 2376 2127 215 16 5 13 1 469 93 6 66 605 71.06% 8.64% 250 375 0 0
Team G IP BFP AB BB HBP SH SF CI H 2B 3B HR SO FEbat FErun OR R       ΔW ΔWyr
Dodgers,
with actual fielding		 69 616.0 2624 2327 247 29 6 15 0 564 106 12 86 614 710% 8.81% 308 370 --- ---
Dodgers,
assuming average fielding		 69 616.0 2558 2269 241 28 6 15 0 550 103 12 84 599 71.06% 8.64% 303 370 +1 +1
Mets,
with actual fielding		 68 607.1 2538 2250 237 26 8 15 2 508 94 11 48 607 71.57% 9.14% 241 331 --- ---
Mets,
assuming average fielding		 68 607.1 2475 2194 231 25 8 15 2 495 92 11 47 592 71.06% 8.64% 239 331 0 +1
White Sox,
with actual fielding		 68 586.2 2555 2243 246 41 3 21 1 567 122 14 73 495 70.92% 9.14% 322 239 --- ---
White Sox,
assuming average fielding		 68 586.2 2491 2187 240 40 3 20 1 553 119 14 71 483 71.06% 8.64% 312 239 +1 +2
Twins,
with actual fielding		 67 590.0 2467 2241 170 31 7 18 0 532 106 2 67 586 71.17% 7.07% 260 284 --- ---
Twins,
assuming average fielding		 67 590.0 2405 2185 166 30 7 18 0 519 103 2 65 571 71.06% 8.64% 251 284 +1 +2
Giants,
with actual fielding		 68 602.0 2499 2240 208 24 10 16 1 519 95 14 47 591 71.01% 9.88% 240 269 --- ---
Giants,
assuming average fielding		 68 602.0 2437 2184 203 23 10 16 1 506 93 14 46 576 71.06% 8.64% 233 269 0 +3
Cardinals,
with actual fielding		 68 604.2 2557 2316 186 21 10 21 3 587 117 13 56 480 70.68% 8.04% 280 300 --- ---
Cardinals,
assuming average fielding		 68 604.2 2493 2258 181 20 10 20 3 572 114 13 55 468 71.06% 8.64% 271 300 +1 +3
Diamondbacks,
with actual fielding		 68 607.0 2621 2341 232 30 7 11 0 585 134 11 89 577 70.70% 7.51% 324 348 --- ---
Diamondbacks,
assuming average fielding		 68 607.0 2556 2283 226 29 7 11 0 570 131 11 87 563 71.06% 8.64% 310 348 +2 +4
Team G IP BFP AB BB HBP SH SF CI H 2B 3B HR SO FEbat FErun OR R       ΔW ΔWyr
Guardians,
with actual fielding		 67 591.2 2532 2248 242 19 5 17 1 564 105 5 73 569 69.84% 10.10% 297 262 --- ---
Guardians,
assuming average fielding		 67 591.2 2469 2192 236 19 5 17 1 550 102 5 71 555 71.06% 8.64% 282 262 +1 +4
Mariners,
with actual fielding		 67 607.0 2599 2329 209 26 13 21 1 600 108 9 78 544 70.02% 8.25% 309 305 --- ---
Mariners,
assuming average fielding		 67 607.0 2534 2271 204 25 13 20 1 585 105 9 76 530 71.06% 8.64% 294 305 +2 +4
Orioles,
with actual fielding		 66 577.1 2521 2261 216 20 6 17 1 607 126 13 92 531 68.99% 7.83% 339 272 --- ---
Orioles,
assuming average fielding		 66 577.1 2458 2205 211 20 6 17 1 592 123 13 90 518 71.06% 8.64% 315 272 +3 +5
Red Sox,
with actual fielding		 70 630.1 2708 2406 234 32 8 23 5 611 95 2 70 587 69.61% 9.52% 314 349 --- ---
Red Sox,
assuming average fielding		 70 630.1 2640 2346 228 31 8 22 5 596 93 2 68 572 71.06% 8.64% 293 349 +3 +5
Angels,
with actual fielding		 67 590.1 2601 2279 270 22 5 24 1 611 95 8 86 501 69.49% 9.68% 345 268 --- ---
Angels,
assuming average fielding		 67 590.1 2536 2222 263 21 5 23 1 596 93 8 84 488 71.06% 8.64% 326 268 +2 +5
Marlins,
with actual fielding		 66 585.0 2563 2274 235 25 4 23 2 596 118 13 81 523 69.65% 7.55% 344 269 --- ---
Marlins,
assuming average fielding		 66 585.0 2499 2217 229 24 4 22 2 581 115 13 79 510 71.06% 8.64% 322 269 +2 +5
Nationals,
with actual fielding		 67 589.0 2571 2269 226 44 10 22 0 583 97 19 67 529 69.74% 7.37% 319 258 --- ---
Nationals,
assuming average fielding		 67 589.0 2507 2212 220 43 10 21 0 531 88 19 65 516 71.06% 8.64% 298 258 +2 +5
Team G IP BFP AB BB HBP SH SF CI H 2B 3B HR SO FEbat FErun OR R       ΔW ΔWyr
Athletics,
with actual fielding		 70 620.0 2803 2452 273 38 7 32 1 670 137 8 104 559 69.04% 5.61% 414 313 --- ---
Athletics,
assuming average fielding		 70 620.0 2733 2391 266 37 7 31 1 653 134 8 101 545 71.06% 8.64% 378 313 +3 +6
Phillies,
with actual fielding		 68 610.0 2592 2342 208 19 8 15 0 588 120 8 72 638 68.82% 7.86% 295 310 --- ---
Phillies,
assuming average fielding		 68 610.0 2527 2284 203 19 8 15 0 573 117 8 70 622 71.06% 8.64% 271 310 +2 +6
Rockies,
with actual fielding		 67 582.1 2626 2333 235 22 7 28 1 684 138 12 87 448 67.43% 8.53% 397 230 --- ---
Rockies,
assuming average fielding		 67 582.1 2560 2275 229 21 7 27 1 667 135 12 85 437 71.06% 8.64% 349 230 +3 +8

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