“Wins above replacement,” often abbreviated as WAR, is an advanced statistical metric system in baseball. It is used to measure the value of a player added to the baseball team. It uses a comparative analysis technique to measure the wins over the season to judge how valuable a player is compared to a replacement player.
The aim for Wins above replacement is to quantify a player’s overall contribution to the team and how much value the player is to the team. It evaluates both the offensive as well as defensive performances of the player and makes a conclusion. It gives a single number that represents the value of the player. This sub-metric statistical system is now common and widely accepted as a measurement in the baseball world.
Let’s look at WAR in baseball in detail:
The Aim of Wins Above Replacement (WAR)
Wins above replacement is now used for multiple purposes. Not only does it assess the performances of a player at offense and defense, but it also focuses on their batting, Fielding, baserunning, hitting, and pitching. It gives a collective analysis of their performance that shows how much they add value to their team’s success.
It also gives fans and analysts a good idea of their important players and who to keep in the team. It also adds significance to their team if they have a player with a good WAR score. It gives a more holistic approach to assessing the team rather than the traditional method of comparing and contrasting the scores of every player.
In addition, the higher the WAR score, the higher the salary of the player. As a player is valuable in the team, they don’t want to lose the player because of money. Hence, the most valuable player often tends to earn more than other players. Therefore, if a player has 7 WAR, they add 7 “wins” to their team and were 7 “wins” better than a replacement-level player.
How to Calculate WAR?
There are different ways of calculating the WAR of a player. Although most of them have a slight difference, a few can calculate wins above replacement entirely differently. The two types of WAR that are used widely are:
- fWARs (calculated by Fangraphs)
- bWARs (calculated by Baseball-reference)
These are the two most commonly used variations. They are slightly different, and both have their own limitations and successes. Therefore, they are often used together to assess the value of a player. They both look at batting, Fielding, positional adjustment, and pitching. However, base running is only calculated by fWAR.
fWAR and bWAR
Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference websites both provide WAR values for position players and pitchers. They allocate a total of 1000 WAR per 162 games, but there’s a slight difference in how they distribute it. Fangraphs assigns 570 WAR to position players and 430 WAR to pitchers, while Baseball-Reference allots 590 WAR to position players and 410 WAR to pitchers.
This means Fangraphs suggests that pitchers have about 2% more impact on the game compared to Baseball-Reference. While this difference isn’t significant, it’s worth considering when interpreting WAR values and comparing players between the two sources. The allocation methods for position players and pitchers vary slightly, and this can result in differences in a player’s fWAR and bWAR.
Calculating WAR for Positional Players
WAR is a comprehensive metric that considers a wide range of statistics to assess a player’s performance. When calculating WAR for position players, both Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference start with similar components:
fWAR includes Batting runs, Base Running runs, Fielding runs, Positional Adjustment, League Adjustment, and Replacement Runs, all divided by Runs per win.
bWAR includes Batting Runs, Base Running runs, Runs from GIDP (ground into double play), Fielding Runs, Positional Adjustment Runs, and Replacement Level Runs, also divided by Runs per win.
The main difference between fWAR and bWAR arises from the method used to measure fielding runs, which represents a player’s defensive performance. Fangraphs uses Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR), while Baseball-Reference uses Defensive Runs Saved (DRS). Because of variations in these, the result can vary significantly in calculating WAR for positional players.
Calculating WAR for Pitchers
Unlike the calculation of WAR for position players, Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference take significantly different approaches when determining the WAR for pitchers. They use different fundamental statistics to assess a pitcher’s impact on their team’s success.
Fangraphs relies on FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching), while Baseball-Reference uses RA9 (Runs Allowed per 9 innings) as their main approach. These base statistics provide the foundation for calculating a pitcher’s WAR.
Conclusion for What WAR Is in Baseball?
To summarize, there are significant differences when it comes to calculating WAR in baseball. Fangraphs and Baseball-References can have slight differences when it comes to calculating WAR scores of positional players; however, when it comes to calculating WAR for pitchers, they take an entirely different route.
Both statistical tools can be used to assess a player’s value in their team. Both fWAR and bWAR have their pros and cons, but together, they can be used to have better statistical data with fewer chances of errors. It is important to know a player’s value and what they bring to the team.
FAQs:
A replacement-level player is a player who is easily available and has an average set of skills. They have lower salary packages than a valuable player and don’t have high WAR scores.
War can be calculated by different methods. The two most common ways of calculating war are fWAR and bWAR. They can have a slight difference while calculating positional players and a significant difference in pitchers.
