The Stat That Will Revolutionize Fantasy Baseball: Batter Value

I recently wrote an article introducing the sabermetric measurement of secondary average to Bleacher Report.

Secondary average is a great, albeit unreliable, way to measure a players' productivity. I saw that secondary average tended to not work if too many walks were in the equation.

I was bored, so I got the help of a friend and we turned secondary average into fantasy batter value.

Here is what FBV looks like as a whole:

FBV = TB - H  + (3/2SB) + (RCpG) / AB  + (SO%*100)

TB = total bases
H = hits
SB = stolen bases
RCpG = runs created per game (a Bill James product)
AB = at bats
SO% = strike out percentage (K/AB)

This statistic is all a fantasy player needs when determining the value and rankings of non-pitchers come draft day.

One important element it includes is slugging percentage. It also includes hits, strikeout rate, and run production.

Steals are taken times one and a half because of the importance of that category in fantasy matchups.

One of the drawbacks of FBV is that the number produced is lower than usual for a statistic of its kind. When someone uses it, they have to get used to the fact that .200 is not a horrible score.

Let's plug in a few players to see what we have. All statistics are from 2008 and are current as of May 22.

Ichiro Suzuki

FBV = TB - H  + (3/2SB) + (RC/G) / AB  + (SO%*100)

FBV = 76 - 58 + (31.5) + 5.7 / 197 + 9.14

FBV = 55.2 / 206.14

FBV = .268

Miguel Cabrera

FBV = TB - H  + (3/2SB) + (RC/G) / AB  + (SO%*100)

FBV = 81 - 48 + (1.5) + 6.1 / 170 + 20

FBV = 34.5 / 190

FBV =  .182

Chipper Jones

FBV = TB - H  + (3/2SB) + (RC/G) / AB  + (SO%*100)

FBV = 116 - 70 + 0 + 14 / 170 + 9.4

FBV = 60 / 179.4

FBV = .334

Brendan Harris

FBV = TB - H  + (3/2SB) + (RC/G) / AB  + (SO%*100)

FBV = 50 - 37 + 1.5 + 3.8 / 145 + 23.4

FBV = 18.3 / 168.4

FBV = .109

When you apply the numbers to any batter, you can immediately tell whether he is a viable fantasy option. You can also put different players head-to-head when deciding who to draft or pick up.

Feel free to use Fantasy Batter Value as the fantasy baseball season approaches full swing, and again next year during the draft.

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