You’ve probably heard about this before, but I wanted to put an introductory post out there for it. Tim and I also recorded a demo video explaining the fScores and showing some examples.
But I will summarize it in writing, as well. Old school!
First of all, at least 80% of the credit goes to Tim on this one. Give him a follow. He’s been a huge addition to the operations here and we’re just getting started. He’s been running and using these scores for around five years now. But he was doing it all manually once peryear, it was a mess. So, with some slightly reduced complexity, I was able to automate them, and now we’ll be able to do monthly updates rather than yearly.
Hitter fScore Explanations
All fScores on are on the scale where 100 is the average. The elite will typically be around 130, but it does vary. Anything between 95-105 is an average player, and then you can use that pattern from there.
Hit Tool: This pertains to racking up base hits. Launch angle stuff, in-zone aggression, and overall quality of contact are considered in this. A good predictor of racking up hits.
Power: This uses the inputs that predict extra base hits. Barrel rates, ISO, air pulls, exit velocity, etc. A good predictor of home runs, RBI, and slugging.
Discipline: This one is all about taking walks and not striking out. And there’s a pretty heavy weight on low strikeout rates, so you’ll see the Arraez’s of the world grading very well in this one even though they don’t walk much. A good predictor of batting average and on base percentage.
Speed: A mix of foot speed and actual stolen base attempt rate history. A good predictor of stolen bases.
Durability: A measure of how the player has done at avoiding long-term IL stints.
Grade: Combines all of those scores together with weighting. The weights are in this order: power, hit tool, speed, discipline, and then durability.
Pitcher fScore Explanations
Stuff: Uses a Stuff+ model when the data is available, weighs in things like SwStr%, fastball velo, and more. This is trying to predicting high strikeout rates.
Control: All about the walks! Low walk rates, high strike rates, high zone rates, etc.
ERA: Focuses closely on the three inputs into SIERA (K%, BB%, and home run avoidance). Plenty of overlap with the first two in this one. But it’s my favorite one for a one-stop shop to evaluate a pitcher quickly.
Durability: A measure of how the player has done at avoiding long-term IL stints.
Grade: Combines all of those scores together with weighting. The weights are in this order: ERA, stuff, control, durability.
Where To Find Them
Dashboards, baby! We have brand new links (as of this week) to all major dashboards. Paid subs can grab those new links in the Resource Glossary.
MAIN MLB DASHBOARD
I guess I would call this the flagship resource. That plus the daily projections are my two big selling points. The scores have been integrated into the hitter profiles:
And the pitcher profiles:
We also have standalone pages for each:
NEW AND IMPROVED PROSPECT ANALYSIS DASHBOARD
This was formerly called “MiLB Statcast Dashboard”, but I’ve renamed it. Same story on that one though, the scores are on the hitter profiles:
The pitcher profiles:
And standalone pages:
It’s all yours if you’re a paid sub! Enjoy!
Side note - this is a great of year for you to send in your requests on stuff to change to the tools. I’m in upgrade mode right now, so if you have any ideas - send them my way!
