OPS+

Before I start with my next set of posts (a review of each team’s season), I will probably need to explain one of the main stats that I will be using, adjusted OPS. Some of you may be familiar with OPS, but for those who are not, it is just a players (or teams) on base percentage + their slugging percentage. So what is ‘adjusted OPS’? Pretty much it is a comparison of a players OPS against the league average. For the sake of simplicity I won’t go on too much about it, all you will need to know is that an adjusted OPS (OPS+) of 100 is exactly league average. Anything below 100 is below league average and anything above 100 is above league average.

Now along the same lines of OPS+ there is ERA+. Again, it is merely the players ERA compared to the league ERA, with 100 being exactly league average. For those out there who may be curious about what would be constitute a good OPS+, I’ll give an example. The league’s MVP last season, Michael Collins, had an OPS+ of 172, which is ridiculously good. Now for comparison sake, in the MLB, Albert Pujols has a career OPS+ of 171 (he is good at baseball).

Some of you may be asking, why use it? Well it enables you to compare player’s stats from season to season more easily. Say for instance this year Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson and Johan Santana all decide to play in the new ABL (unlikely but would be awesome). Obviously the league average OPS would drop as hitters are facing better pitchers. By using OPS+ we can compare season to season stats whilst still factoring in things that effect overall league performance. Along the same lines, we could also compare offensive performances from the old ABL with tin bats to the new one with wood bats. This season the league average OPS was .746 whereas in the old metal bat league days it might have been up around the .900 mark (I’m guessing, but you get the point).

This may have gone over some people’s heads, and I don’t really expect a bunch of people to jump on this bandwagon, but it is a new way to look at the game and compare how players are performing from season to season.

Young Guns

So I'm sitting down looking at the stats for each team from last season and looking at which positions they need to improve on. Then I start thinking, are there any young kids around that could potentially make their mark on the ABL this season, or in future seasons that people out there on the other side of the screen may not know about? So I'm going to go through each state, and throw a couple of names out that are worth keeping an eye on for this season and season to come. I'm not going to include names like Welch, Hendricks and Denning. These guys have already made their mark and the fans out their are well aware of their skills. You will also notice that the majority of these of these guys are all pitchers. I can't explain why, but I think it may have something to do with younger hitters having more oppurtunity to get at bats, whereas the younger pitchers usually have to wait behind experienced staff aces in order to try built innings. So without further adue here it is...

First cab of the rank,

Blake Cunningham - Victoria

In the recent U23 tournament, Cunningham threw 15 innings of shut out ball... he allowed 4 hits, 1 UN-earned run and struck out a pretty handy 17 hitters whilst only walking 5. Not to mention he held his opponents to a .087 batting average against. He did get a few innings in the Claxton last year, and failed to make his mark with an ERA of 10.56 however in the 7 innings he threw he did strike out 10 hitters. Showing that he has the stuff to definitely beat older guys. It will definitely be interesting to see what happens with Cunningham, if he isn't given a chance to start with Victoria you may end up seeing him start for another team (Canberra possibly?).

Matt Timms - Queensland

Ok, for starters, this kid is a horse. Not just any horse, he's like 8 horses within the one horse body. Queensland lists him as 198cm and 125kg, so the dude is big. But he can definitely throw baseballs, again using the U23 stats, this guy (in my opinion) was the pitcher of the tournament yet for some reason was overlooked. He threw 8 innings, which isn't anywhere near Cunningham (who threw 9 in the final). He did however strike out 17 hitters in those 8 innings. Now some of you out there may be skeptical, sure he can do it against people his own age, but can he take the step up? Well this kid played in the Claxton shield last year and posted some very very impressive numbers. Used as a reliever, he posted 14 1/3 innings in 11 appearances. He managed to strike out 15 hitters and post an ERA of 2.51 which was the best on the Queensland team. Now being out of the loop with Queensland baseball, the Backyard Baseballer is not sure if this kid has the ability to start games or not. But as it stands right now, he is definitely showing that he has the ability to post some solid numbers against whoever he throws.

Angus Roeger, South Australia

Signed as a 16 year old, this kid has developed into a monster over the last few years. He currently stands at 185cm and weighing in at 95kg, he definitely has the frame to hit for some solid power. In limited playing time last year (30 AB's), Roeger hit 2 home runs for SA while also posting the second highest OPS in the team. He did strike out 12 times while only walking 3, so his plate dicipline may need a little work. Looking at his home clubs stats (Sturt) he hit for a low average (.255) but managed to an OBP of (.468) and slugging average of (.562) with 5 home runs. So it doesn't look at those he will be a high average kind of guy but if he manages to get some more at bats and improve on last years numbers Roeger should definitely be able to display some power.

Matthew Rae, New South Whales

Considering NSW have Cox and Lundgren this guy didn't get much exposure, however he did have a small gig in the New South Whales team last year and pitched extremely well in relief. Rae pitched in 11 games and when looking overall, was the man out of the pen that was most trustworthy. In total he pitched 16 innings and struck out a handy 17 hitters. He also held opposing hitters to a .253 average which was second best on the entire team (better than Cox and Lundgren). While Cox is clearly the man to watch up top, don't be surprised if Rae can manage to become one of the go to guys out of the pen this year.

Well there is is, definitely not an exaustive list, but just a few names that I noticed last season that had Claxton experience and could make a big leap this season to beccoming some of the household names of the Australian Baseball League.

That's what I'm WALKING about!

Ok, so not too much of a delay on the second post afterall. Due to time constraints it's not going to be a long one, but is definitely a good one (hopefully). There's one stat in baseball that is often overlooked, and that's a players on base percentage. Whilst home runs are sexy, if you can find a player that knows how to work the strike zone, then you're going to get more guys on base, delay that 27th and final out of the game which will result in your team being able to score more runs. Last season there were a couple of guys that jumped out at the Backyard Baseballer for their ability to take a walk... one of them is Michael Collins, now I don't need to do a post on him to be able to explain this guys value to a team. However the other one went relatively un-noticed last year, his name is Allan de San Miguel.

He only hit .262 last year, which might have people wondering why I would bother doing a post on him. Well he managed walk a league leading 20 times, bringing his on base percentage to .447 ,when you compare that with the league average of .353 you start to realise that this guy had a great season last year. Coupled with the fact that this kid is only 22 years old, and plays catcher, the Backyard Baseballer thinks that Alan de San Miguel will be one of the stars of the new ABL.

Numero Uno

Well, I guess first things first, what is this? Right now, it's nothing, mere words on a blank canvas. What will it be then? Well I'm glad you asked, hopefully a decent blog about Australian Baseball. I was inspired by the Defensive Specialist, I would assume that if you have managed to make your way over here then you would have definitely seen some of his work, which is great stuff.

However, surely one man can't control the entire blog-o-sphere of Australian Baseball. With the upcoming Australian League there is going to be a lot of information available, and the great man won't be able to be everywhere (even Gary Ablett Sr. handballed off the occasional goal). With the Australian Baseball League in the offseason, there isn't too much news currently filtering through. So the Backyard Baseballer will be focusing a bit on last years season, giving a few previews to the current season and potentially throwing in a few posts about the seppo league.

I'll have a new post up in the next few weeks analysing how your team went in last years season and hopefully some news about the naming of each states team (which just quietly is dragging out just a little bit!). For now though, I'll just be leaving you with this little intro post which hopefully leaves people wanting more.