Statistics have been a critical part of baseball for more than 150 years. The power of data collection and analysis has enabled teams to make informed decisions regarding personnel, strategies, and performance. Since the dead-ball era in the late 19th century, when paper scorebooks first allowed scouts to track player stats.
Sabermetrics–the science of evaluating statistical performance in baseball–has developed into an indispensable part of modern Major League Baseball (MLB).
Through its many evolutions, statistics have shaped today’s landscape by helping teams make more nuanced personnel decisions that could give them a competitive edge over their opponents. This blog post will examine how analytics technology has progressed throughout history and discuss current usage trends among franchises across the league.
History of Statistics in MLB
The history dates back to the late 19th century when paper scorebooks first emerged as a way for scouts to track player stats. Since then, the science of evaluating statistical performance in baseball, known as Sabermetrics, has grown exponentially in importance and popularity.
In 2002, Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics won 103 games using an analytics-driven approach to player evaluation and roster construction. Hollywood even did a movie about this called “Moneyball.” This success marked a turning point in MLB’s relationship with analytics, and teams began to adopt their own sophisticated metrics and analysis systems.
Development of Sabermetrics
The development of Sabermetrics has been an ongoing process throughout MLB history. In the 1980s, sabermetrician Bill James pioneered a more scientific approach to player evaluation and roster construction. Through his work, he developed a set of advanced baseball metrics that enabled teams to assess player performance more accurately. This included new metrics like Runs created per game (RC/G) and Win Shares (WS), allowing teams to better judge a player’s overall value by measuring their contribution to winning games.
By the 2000s, MLB teams had widely accepted Sabermetrics as an effective way to evaluate players and make strategic decisions. It has provided clubs with lower payrolls, such as the Tampa Bay Rays, an alternative way to compete with the giants of the game, like the Yankees and Red Sox, without spending hundreds of millions of dollars.
Current Usage Trends Among Franchises
Today, most MLB franchises have adopted sophisticated analytics platforms and use them as part of their decision-making process.
Analytics evaluate players’ and project performance and make informed decisions regarding personnel, strategies, and performance. This includes data points such as advanced batting metrics like wOBA (weighted on-base average) and xSLG (weighted slugging average), as well as fielding metrics like UZR/150 (ultimate zone rating) and Defensive Runs Saved (DRS). Teams also use advanced metrics to evaluate pitching staffs, such as fielding independent pitching (FIP) and SIERA (skill-interactive earned run average).
In addition to using analytics technology to inform their decisions, fans rely heavily on MLB betting odds when deciding how to approach certain games or series. Betting models can help fans determine the value of a win or loss for any given game in terms of both money line odds and over/under line totals.
Baseball is such a numbers game compared to almost any other sport, and statistics have continued to become a major part of MLB over the years. Teams are increasingly leveraging analytics technology to gain a competitive edge. Meanwhile, Sabermetrics enables teams to make more nuanced decisions about personnel, strategies, and performance that could ultimately lead to improved results on the field.
