To this end, UZR initially counts errors as outs, again because the fielder got to the ball and therefore has the range to get to that ball in the future. But we still need to factor in errors somehow. Instead of calculating the error rate for each zone, UZR calculates it by position. It uses the total number of errors committed by players at a certain position and determines the rate by dividing it by the total number of ball players at that position got to.
We can then determine how many more or fewer errors a particular player made, and then, multiplying by the run value of an error, we can determine how many more runs he cost or saved his team.
That counts only reached-on-errors, ones which caused the batter to reach first base. There is another type of error, non-ROE, which means a different calculation, since it means a runner moving up rather than a runner reaching base. Obviously, other factors play into how a defender fields a ball. UZR breaks down park factor into positions, including the infield as one position. The idea here is to make small adjustments for how certain parks play.
If an infield plays badly — has high grass, has messy lips — that factors into defense. So does outfield space. Those all get factored into UZR. Batted ball speed is seemingly the most important adjustment. A third baseman might be able to not only field a tapper between him and the shortstop, but have enough time to set his feet and throw. On a sharp grounder, however, the play becomes more difficult. Game stringers — people who watch the game and record every event — classify ground balls as soft, medium, or hard, and fly balls as easy, medium, and hard.
Those all factor into UZR as well, with each zone getting a weight for each batted ball speed. It takes into account the difficulty of catching a lightly hit fly ball to a shallow zone, as well as a hard fly ball to a deep zone and everything in between.
We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. The ability to substantiate defensive performance in an analytical form has become, in essence, almost a necessity for sabermetricians in need of verification of whether a fielder is a solid defender or not.
Since , UZR Ultimate Zone Rating has been the most commonly used defensive metric for those who have cognition of it's importance. Heck, the majority of people that have the time, patience, and an abundance of baseball comprehension are aware of the difference between UZR and highly flawed statistics such as fielding percentage and errors. Even with one's ability to bestow his or her knowledge of UZR, many don't seem fully aware of it's background or the ways a certain fielder can improve or negate his Ultimate Zone Rating.
Before we dig in to that, confabulating the background of UZR sounds like a grand idea, wouldn't you say? Founded by Baseball Think Factory's Michael Litchman , Ultimate Zone Rating is best defined by -- sans the pitcher and catcher -- a fielder's ability to get to balls in 64 of the 78 zones.
It's not all batted balls, however, as outfield balls hit foul, infield line drives, and infield pop flies are not considered in the formula. In simplest form, Ultimate Zone Rating is the amount of runs above or below average a fielder costs or earns his team within certain zones using four metrics, well actually, three:. This was what he had to say regarding the most beneficial way to formalize UZR:.
Here's what is calculated for each zone : the out rate and the percentage of balls in that zone that turn into outs. The league average out rate is then subtracted from the player's out rate — if this number is negative, it means the player is worse than league average.
If it's positive, it means he's better than league average. That rate is then multiplied by the number of balls that hit in that player's zone. By watching your team day in and day out, you can tell who is more talented defensively than others. So you should already have an idea for whose UZR is higher than average.
The higher the value the better the player is defensively. But be careful and make sure you understand the sample size. If a player has one year or less in the majors, you should not be basing his defensive skill off his UZR. All stats need time to adjust to the true value for the player.
I would use UZR for players who have played at least 3 full seasons in the majors before using that as a judgement of their defensive skill. So I recommend using the stats more as a supplement to watching a player and figuring out his ability for yourself. If you want to read a more in depth article about UZR, check out this Fangraphs piece. Share Tweet Pin. Facebook Comments. Information Report. Still has a long way to go. For example, anyone who has seen A.
Cabrera play knows he is one of the best defensive shortstops in the AL. Yet he is ranked dead last. Suzuki is also very underrated. UZR by Piper Slowinski. Calculation: For the details on how UZR is calculated — i. Please Login to comment.
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