C. Trent Rosecrans

crosecrans@enquirer.com

The Blog Above Replacement a daily look at the Reds, their minor leagues and whatever else is on the mind of Enquirer Reds beat writers, C. Trent Rosecrans and Zach Buchanan. You can follow them on Twitter (@ctrent and @ZachENQ), Facebook (C. Trent Rosecrans and Zach Buchanan) and Instagram (ENQReds).

Great American Ball Park has been adding different statistics to their scoreboard the last couple of years and I noticed some new ones during the three-game series — WAR, OPS+, BABIP and ISO.

These are welcome additions and aren’t there in place of batting average, home runs and RBI, but in addition to the traditional stats.

While I thought it was interesting, I also wanted to give a quick primer on just what these numbers are and what they could mean.

• WAR (Wins Above Replacement): Most people are at least familiar with WAR. This is a measure of how many more wins a player will contribute to his team than a replacement player. A replacement player is not an average player, but a player that would cost the league minimum. For position players, WAR takes into account not just a player’s offensive contribution, but also defense and base running. There are a couple of different versions of WAR, but it appears the Reds are using Baseball-Reference.com’s version of the stat. Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs use different hitting, running and fielding metrics to get to that number.

One other thing to keep in mind is that WAR is a counting stat, not a rate stat. Like home runs are RBI, players accumulate WAR over the course of the season.

• OPS+ (adjusted on-base plus slugging): OPS is simply on-base plus slugging, which adds the two stats together. Although there are limitations, it still gives a good basic idea of offensive output. OPS+, or adjusted on-base plus slugging, is even better. OPS+ normalizes OPS based on small variables such as park factors and then puts it on a scale of 100 — where 100 is average and every point above or below that is one percentage point above or below average. One of the great things about OPS+ is you quickly have context. Joey Votto’s 160 OPS+ last season tells you his OPS was 60 percent better than average. That’s good.

• BABIP (Batting Average on Balls In Play): Not only is BABIP fun to say, it’s pretty self-explanatory. It’s a percentage of how many non-home run balls put in play fall for a hit. League average is usually around .300. BABIP can’t tell you much on its own (some say a high-BABIP is “lucky”), but comparing a player’s BABIP over time can tell you something about a player. A player that hits the ball harder will likely have a higher BABIP, since harder-hit balls tend to fall for hits more often. For most hitters, you want to look at their BABIP versus their career BABIP to see if production is sustainable. Last season Votto had a .366 BABIP, which would seem high, except that in his big-league career, he has a .358 BABIP. That is a repeatable skill.

• ISO (Isolated power): This is a measure of raw power. It’s actually pretty simple. It tells you how often a player hits for extra bases. The formula is simple (and there are actually three different ways to get the same answer) — slugging percentage minus average. Or Extra bases divided by at-bats. League average ISO is usually around .140 and anything .200 or better is really good. Jay Bruce (.295), Adam Duvall (.257) and Votto (.225) led the Reds last season.

Advanced statistics aren’t scary, they’re just another way to enjoy the game, and it’s good to see the Reds adding that support for fans.

• A friend of mine saw this in the game notes of the Norfolk Tides, the Triple-A team of the Orioles, and texted it to me:

The Tides have four players with Reds ties, including former Reds Chris Dickerson, Paul Janish and Nate Adcock, as well as former Reds draft pick Zach Stewart. Stewart was one of the players traded to the Blue Jays in the Scott Rolen trade, and the one I thought was the biggest mistake to let go. Shows what I know.

ICYMI

• What struck me from yesterday’s game was just how tough the road has been for several Reds pitchers, including Rookie Davis and Cody Reed.

• Michael Lorenzen is serious — he wants to be a two-way player.

MINOR LEAGUE ROUNDUP

Triple-A: Columbus 3, Louisville 2, 13 innings: Columbus 1B Nelly Rodriguez greeted Alejandro Chacin to Triple-A with a leadoff home run in the 13th inning to give the Clippers the victory. The Bats tied the game in the bottom of the ninth on a balk by Columbus reliever Joseph Colon, scoring DH Sebastian Elizalde. Sal Romano started for Louisville, giving up two runs on seven hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out three. [Box]

Double-A: Pensacola 4, Tennessee 1: On a rehab assignment, Reds C Devin Mesoraco caught six innings and was 1 for 3. 3B Taylor Sparks homered in the fifth to give the Blue Wahoos the lead. 1B Eric Jagielo added a home run in the eighth off of former Reds pitcher Daniel Corcino. RHP Tyler Mahle allowed one run on three hits in 5 2/3, walking one and striking out six. [Box]

High-A: Daytona 3, Florida 1: RHP Jonathon Crawford, who has missed most of the last two seasons due to injuries, got the Opening Day nod. Crawford allowed one run on three hits over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out six and walked three. A former first-round pick out of the University of Florida, Crawford was acquired along with Eugenio Suarez in the deal that sent Alfredo Simon to Detroit. The Tortugas scored three in the seventh for the win, with SS Alfredo Rodriguez driving in one and fellow Cuban Reydel Medina followed with a two-run single for the lead. 3B Nick Senzel and 1B Gavin LaValley were both 2 for 4. [Box]

Low-A: Lake County 3, Dayton 1; Suspended in 4th inning: LF Taylor Trammell hit a solo homer in the first for the Dragons. C Tyler Stephenson doubled in his only at-bat before the rain. RHP Tony Santillan allowed three runs, one earned, on three hits and three walks. Santillan also had a fielding error. [Box]

THE ROTATION

1. ESPN’s Sam Miller on how to enjoy baseball.

2. Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard is interviewed by Hank Azaria character Jim Brockmire. [Yahoo]

3. Former podcast guest Pedro Moura asks what we’ve all wondered so many times over the last couple of years — how did Mike Trout go No. 25 overall in the 2009 draft? [LA Times]

4. Really interesting that the Braves signed Ryan Howard. [AJC.com]

5. Wednesday was the 37th anniversary of R.E.M.’s first show. A friend of mine put this up to honor that, and well, it’s good regardless of when you hear it.