OBP Translated to Fantasy Baseball

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DOUGHBOYS
Posts: 13088
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2005 6:00 pm

OBP Translated to Fantasy Baseball

Post by DOUGHBOYS » Sat Jan 20, 2018 5:32 am

Hopefully, this reads ok.
Insomnia and being sick have converged in making me think about baseball and one of my favorite baseball players to talk about.
Joey Votto.


Joey Votto had a wonderful year in 2017.
Wonderful.
Still, I haven't come close to taking him in a draft for 2018.
Many of you think I despise Votto. I really don't.
Votto is a beautiful hitter. Elegant, even.

Where Votto and I part ways is strictly about fantasy baseball.
I feel gypped when rostering Joey Votto.
Sure, sabermetrics folks think Votto is the best hitter in baseball.
But, sabermetrics ain't fantasy baseball.

Votto's statistics are so good that I had to make up a statistic to illustrate how Votto's sabr self is in no way as good as Votto's fantasy side.
Sabr's love that Votto can take a walk and hits. This translates to the mecca of all sabrs, On Base Percentage.
In fantasy baseball, especially the style played here at the NFBC, OBP is just another statistic.
So, I've devised a stat that lets Votto keep his OBP, but shows how poorly it translates to our game.
Lets call it the OBP Index.
Here is how it works.
Votto reached base by hit or walk 313 times last year.
Far exceeding that of any player. Giving sabrs a woodie.
BUT, let's translate those 313 times reaching base into our two counting statistics of Runs/RBI.
Votto totaled 206 Runs/RBI.
This gives him a OBP Index of just 65 per cent.
Far from elite in fantasy baseball.

Votto's teammate, Scooter Gennett reaped an OBP Index bonanza last year.
Gennett reached base 166 times and was responsible for 177 Runs/RBI. A OBP Index of 1.066 !
Which explains why Gennett is being taken far too early in early drafts.
That is not a sustainable number for Gennett.
Giancarlo Stanton and JD Martinez also have OBP Index of over 1.000

This is a fair statistic for fantasy baseball.
OBP has never translated well to our game.
We grit our teeth when our power hitter is walked. It amounts to a wasted chance to add statistics to our five columns.
While walking to first base pleases those in the sabr community, fantasy players are cursing.
The OBP Index lets us know that while Votto reached base almost 100 more times than Justin Upton, Upton had more Runs/RBI.
Upton is being drafted in the fourth round of many drafts. Votto, at the top of the second.
The only separation is Votto's batting average.
Here are their numbers....
Votto- .320/106/36/100/5, a .658 OBP Index
Upton- .273/100/35/109/14, a .924 OBP Index
In real baseball, where sabrs have infiltrated a little too much, Joey Votto was almost voted Most Valuable Player.
In fantasy baseball, he comps well to Justin Upton.
OBP Index sees to that.
On my tombstone-
Wait! I never had the perfect draft!

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Edwards Kings
Posts: 5879
Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2004 6:00 pm
Location: Duluth, Georgia

Re: OBP Translated to Fantasy Baseball

Post by Edwards Kings » Sat Jan 20, 2018 6:00 am

Insomnia must be in full swing tonight, my old friend. Our benefit...good stuff.
Baseball is a slow, boring, complex, cerebral game that doesn't lend itself to histrionics. You 'take in' a baseball game, something odd to say about a football or basketball game, with the clock running and the bodies flying.
Charles Krauthammer

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