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Isryion · 02-07-2014, 02:18 PM

Do you think Avoid K should be a primary stat?

The bottom line is I think Avoid K should be a secondary stat, along the lines of bunting or a characteristic of a hitter, or hidden and deduced from stats (like BABIP is) rather than a primary rating. There are two key reasons.

1) Its main value is increasing a hitter’s Contact, but isn’t solely responsible for it. Contact rating tells us enough about the important results (batting average).
2) Having it in the same category as a primary stat overstates and confuses its influence. (There’s no rating that I get more questions about or see more people misinterpret). IMO, it's far and away the most worthless rating of the five primary ratings we talk about with regard to hitters.

What does Avoid K do?

Briefly, we know that Avoid K and the hidden BABIP rating are what make up a player’s Contact rating. Contact rating determines a player’s average.

Beyond that, Avoid K essentially helps determines what kinds of outs a player makes (“productive” outs) and how likely they are to be successful at a hit and run. All of which can be good information, but are they worthy of a primary stat? I don’t think so.

Problems with Avoid K
It is one rating that provides almost no value by itself and isn’t even all that influential with average in most cases.

-A player can have a very high contact rating, and high average, despite having a low avoid K.
-A player with a very high Avoid K can still have a very low contact rating, and thus a low average.

Every other rating can stand on its own or, at worst, provides a powerful supplement to an especially weak rating. Contact and Eye can both supplement each other and stand on their own. Power’s value is pretty clear. Even Gap, the weakest of the four, tells you quite a bit about a how a player’s SLG will play out (are they a slap singles hitter or do they get a lot of extra base hits even if very few leave the yard?)

I just don’t know how being aware of how a player makes his outs puts Avoid K in the same category as the above. So, what am I missing? What value does Avoid K have as a primary rating or do you think it would be better off as a secondary rating?

This might come across as a technicality, but based on the confusion and frustration I see around it being misinterpreted, largely based on its location on the player profile. I think it's worthwhile to have some discussion around it.

02-07-2014, 02:18 PM	#1
Isryion Major Leagues Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 337	Should Avoid K Be a Primary Rating? Do you think Avoid K should be a primary stat? The bottom line is I think Avoid K should be a secondary stat, along the lines of bunting or a characteristic of a hitter, or hidden and deduced from stats (like BABIP is) rather than a primary rating. There are two key reasons. 1) Its main value is increasing a hitter’s Contact, but isn’t solely responsible for it. Contact rating tells us enough about the important results (batting average). 2) Having it in the same category as a primary stat overstates and confuses its influence. (There’s no rating that I get more questions about or see more people misinterpret). IMO, it's far and away the most worthless rating of the five primary ratings we talk about with regard to hitters. What does Avoid K do? Briefly, we know that Avoid K and the hidden BABIP rating are what make up a player’s Contact rating. Contact rating determines a player’s average. Beyond that, Avoid K essentially helps determines what kinds of outs a player makes (“productive” outs) and how likely they are to be successful at a hit and run. All of which can be good information, but are they worthy of a primary stat? I don’t think so. Problems with Avoid K It is one rating that provides almost no value by itself and isn’t even all that influential with average in most cases. -A player can have a very high contact rating, and high average, despite having a low avoid K. -A player with a very high Avoid K can still have a very low contact rating, and thus a low average. Every other rating can stand on its own or, at worst, provides a powerful supplement to an especially weak rating. Contact and Eye can both supplement each other and stand on their own. Power’s value is pretty clear. Even Gap, the weakest of the four, tells you quite a bit about a how a player’s SLG will play out (are they a slap singles hitter or do they get a lot of extra base hits even if very few leave the yard?) I just don’t know how being aware of how a player makes his outs puts Avoid K in the same category as the above. So, what am I missing? What value does Avoid K have as a primary rating or do you think it would be better off as a secondary rating? This might come across as a technicality, but based on the confusion and frustration I see around it being misinterpreted, largely based on its location on the player profile. I think it's worthwhile to have some discussion around it. Last edited by Isryion; 02-07-2014 at 02:20 PM.