What is OBP, SLG, RISP, and OPS?
Written by Daniel Stevens
There are many different percentages and numbers in baseball that intimidate newcomers. Here we will explain, very simply, the context in which these numbers are used and how easy they become to understand, and how you can use them to your advantage.
OBP
On Base Percentage is fairly straight forward yet we have to understand what constitutes a hit in order for this stat to be relevant next to a hitters average. A hit is when a batter makes contact with the ball, it stays in fair play and no defender can get any batter out with the runners all safe at their base(s). So all the variables involved in getting a true hit are applicable to the batters average. However, hit-by-pitchs and walks are factored into OBP, giving you a number that represents how often the hitter reaches base without causing a detriment to the inning (fielders choice are not factored into OBP).
The equation looks like this:
(SF = sacrifice fly.)
SLG
Slugging percentage is a great stat to keep. It values extra base hits higher than just as a hit as the percentage is calculated in a hitters average. Where in an average a single and a home run are weighted the same, in SLG the home run is considered as 4 singles.
As you can see here a double is times by 2, triple by 3 and homer by 4. This generally tells a manager who his/her power hitters are. Slugging percentage is a fantastic tool to use when you are writing your line-up card as well as you can put the hitters with a high SLG in the heart of the order (3,4, and 5 spot).
RISP
Runners in scoring position batting average is important in determining who is a clutch hitter on your squad. The calculation is the same as a regular batters hitting average except only factoring in all elements of the calculation when runners are on either second or third or both. A hitter with a high average with RISP is said to be clutch. A variation of this stat is RISP with 2 out. This number will be low as runners are usually off on a 2 strike count. Yet this is a good stat for determining pinch hitters.
OPS
On base plus slugging is an interesting statistic. It is quite simply OBP plus SLG. So now that we know what it means lets take a look:
Okay it looks complicated but it’s not really. It weighs on base percentage and slugging equally. This allows you to see the truly great sluggers, the ones with good eyes. Barry Bonds had an OPS of above 1.000 for 15 of 16 years since 1991 (and the only year he didn’t hit 1.000 he was .999). He also consistently was walked the most in the league for many of those years. Jose Bautista is in the same boat right now as teams pitch very carefully to sluggers but equally the sluggers have to have very good eyes to walk so often.
I hope this helped you feel less intimidated by these numbers next time you see them. Trying to help out our community with one helpful tip at a time. Best of luck from our team at URstore to yours!
Let’s play ball!
