Novice stats question

[MTK91]

My DD is playing on a new team and is worst in the stats. We publish iScore for parents only. She clearly has the worst batting average and on-base percent. However, I don't feel she is as bad as her stats show. She and three other team members share highest number of strikeouts, one with more plate appearances, one with less. Some of the other girls with higher averages, I think sometimes are just lucky that their balls weren't caught/error. Lately, my DD seems to get her ball caught every time, good hit or not. Is there another stat I could look to…? Her QAB1% is pretty good…whatever that means, really, and she is in the mid-pack for RBIs. Afraid the coach just looks at BA and OBP.
Thanks.

 

[CoogansBluff]

How many at-bats? What age?

I don't think there is a good stat that shows how lucky/unlucky a batter is. I don't think quality at-bats mean much, really.

 

[canyonjoe]

One calculation that I keep is to add ROE and recalculate BA and OBP. QAB should be a good stat, but the calculation is terrible at least in Game Changer. I actually wish there was a way in online scoring to qualify a ROE. Example a girls hits a ground ball back to pitcher who overthrows first gets no credit, but a Hard hit ball to the right of second base that she bobbles might get credit. In small sample sized that H/E can mean a big swing in BA. Luck should even out over time but can be frustrating.

My advice is to keep working with DD to become a better hitter. Cut down on the K's and put more balls in play will help BA.

Also, keep a mental stat at each tournament at what you think is a quality at bat.

Personally I'm not a huge fan of give stats to all parents but that's up to your team.

 

[MTK91]

Thanks. I am looking at the times she actually walks up to the plate and divide by number of strikeouts. Figure the other times she is either getting a walk or getting the ball in play. There is another player, for example, that has a higher percent of strikeouts, hasn't walked and has no RBIs. Yet, her batting average and OBP puts squarely higher…would seem she is the better player but….
Just trying to figure out if play level is over her head or just hanging in there.

Doesn't look like we are doing a good job at tracking ROEs.

 

[Sweet Lou]

How does the ball sound off her bat when she hits it. That's often a better indication than stats.

Does she hit the ball hard and gets out or does she "just put the ball in play" a lot with routine ground ball outs to the infield?

 

[MTK91]

How does the ball sound off her bat when she hits it. That's often a better indication than stats.

Does she hit the ball hard and gets out or does she "just put the ball in play" a lot with routine ground ball outs to the infield?

A little bit of all. Pops to the infield and outfield. Ground balls to the infield. However, when she does hit it well, it a powerful hit. Not only is it strong but it is fast. I see some of the bigger girls with big hits but there is almost a slowness to the ball. She has a real strong and fast hit in there. That is upside…see if we can find that more.

 

[CoogansBluff]

There is another player, for example, that has a higher percent of strikeouts, hasn't walked and has no RBIs. Yet, her batting average and OBP puts squarely higher…would seem she is the better player but….

Still would like to know the number of at-bats and age division.

As for this particular player, and others --

High SO pct - At lower levels, putting the ball in play is more valuable than it is at higher levels because lower (and younger) teams don't field as well and don't have the defensive range. So those girls who never strike out are valuable. As they get older and face better teams, however, the SO is not so terrible. Not arguing that a SO is a good thing, but there are hitters who might strike out twice as much, yet still be twice the hitter.

RBI - Very dependent on where you bat in the lineup. Overrated stat, IMO.

OBP - Good hitters tend to have high OBP, no doubt. But high OBP is more important at younger/lower levels because once you get on, younger/lower opponents have trouble keeping you from moving on around the bases. But at higher/older levels, every base becomes harder to get, so merely getting to first base is just the first step in a longer journey. At those levels, the high slugging pct player becomes more valuable than it used to be (not that she was ever a slouch) because hitting doubles, triples and homers move runners in a game where wild pitchers, errors, stolen bases have become more rare.

In sum, younger girls who walk a lot, and/or never strike out, but don't really hit the ball hard do not scale that well. Would rather have a player moving toward learning to knock the snot of out of the ball, at the risk of some strikeouts. Unless she's a slapper.

 

[29dad]

The way we do it, at least for my 13U son's baseball team (DD's team has not embraced gamechanger or iscore yet), is that parents only have access to their own child's stats. I really think that is the way to go. Less anxiety, and also less second guessing from parents.

 

[spleen1015]

I wouldn't worry about where she is compared to teammates. If you're going to use the stats for something, use them to judge how she is doing. You already know she needs to get better. Use your stats to judge how she's improving. Does it really matter is she has the 8th or 9th best BA when she has lots of room to improve?

 

[Scarecrow]

Back when I had younger girls (10U & 12U) and published stats (ugh), I always included a stat right next to AVG, OBP, SLG, and OPS:

CON = (PA - K - BB) / PA

Essentially it told me which batters were looking to make contact when they stepped to the plate, and which were looking for a walk.