Baseball Statistics Lessons

Baseball is driven by statistics. About 90 percent of a ballplayer’s ability is represented by the numbers, if only we have the patience and desire to interpret them.

These lessons will help you understand how to use the numbers to evaluate players.

Lesson 1: What’s an on-base percentage?

This stat should have replaced batting average as the basic unit of measure for offensive players because it simply and concisely measures the most important element of being a hitter: getting on base. Read on to learn more.

Lesson 2: What is sabermetrics?

Sabermetrics is the study of baseball using advanced statistics to analyze the game. We’ll examine what it means and why it’s controversial. Read on to learn more.

Lesson 3: What’s an earned run average (ERA)?

As the basic statistical measure of a pitcher, ERA determines the average number of earned runs scored against a pitcher every nine innings. Read on to learn more.