This post will feature the second tool in our trio of player comparison tools (the third tool for pitchers will come out soon after this post).

Our first tool that was posted a couple of weeks ago allows Fantasy owners to compare minor league prospects with each other, which is very helpful for dynasty league owner as they look to weigh the relative present and future value of the players on their rosters.

For this week, SCFE will introduce the second iteration in our suite of instruments: The 2015 Hitter Comparison Tool!

Like the prospect tool, this allows us to visually compare players of similar overall values that have different skill sets.

For example, Billy Hamilton and Joey Votto are close in overall projected value, but how they get to that value is very different. Absent of its ability to compare players, the tool lets owners illuminate the manner in which a player’s overall value is composed with regards to their relative strengths and weaknesses.

The Projection Systems: ZiPS, Steamer, FANS

The past couple of years, the method that I’ve used to produce my fantasy rankings has been achieved through the aggregation of a number of statistically based projection systems; the projections that the hitter comparison tool uses is a result of the same process.

The projections — ZiPS, Steamer, FanGraphs crowdsourcing projections — that I combined together this year are valuable in and of themselves, but the aggregation process of these particular projection systems proves to be a valuable process for several reasons:

Group projection systems are able to produce better results than individual forecasts in almost every field that it has been studied, from The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail-but Some Don’t by Nate Silver (2012). Statistically based forecast often do better than projections done by individuals because they are done on computers which are free from biases like, “he was on my team last year and I’ll never own him again”; just because a player performed poorly last year, that doesn’t mean he’ll perform poorly this year, and just because you don’t care for him that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t discard him irrespective of his inherent value (e.g. if you can get a 5th round player in the 6th round, you draft him; how you feel about him shouldn’t and doesn’t matter; the value that he provides is all that matters.) This year, and because of the recent body of work produced around the topic of crowdsourcing, I decided to add a human element in the form of the FanGraphs crowdsourcing projections.

The projections below, and the spider charts/comparison tools that use those projections are based off of 15 team rotisserie league roster formats that use two catchers, one middle infielder, 1 corner infielder, 1 1B, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 SS, 5 outfielders, 1 utility player, 9 pitcher spots, and seven bench spots; I believe this is the format for NFBC leagues, but I could be mistaken.

The values have been translated through the average of the three forecasts—ZiPS, Steamer, FanGraphs crowdsourcing—into the zSCRs, which in the absence of league specific data is the best substitute for SGP.

The 2015 Fantasy Baseball Hitter Comparison Tool

[iframe src=”https://onedrive.live.com/embed?cid=EB8674ECAD738B05&resid=EB8674ECAD738B05%21283&authkey=AAjC_pyA5tWLExo&em=2&AllowTyping=True&Item=’Sheet1′!A1%3AB24&wdHideGridlines=True” width=”100%” height=”514″]

NOTE: To pick a new player you have to clear the cell first (i.e. 1.) CLICK INTO THE CELL 2.) PRESS SPACE 3.) THEN, PRESS ENTER)

You can also search for players, BUT THE CELL HAS TO START OUT AS A BLANK CELL (i.e. the note above) before you can search for a player: 1.) Start to type out the player’s name 2.) Click the drop down arrow 3.) Click the players name.

To use the chart you have to start from a clear/empty cell:

1. Click into the area underneath the cell that says “Hitter A” or “Hitter B.”

2. Click the drop down arrow that appears after you click into the cell.

3. Now, select the player that you wish to have displayed on the chart. If you only want to view one player, you have to make sure one of the cells where a player is listed is blank (note above).

[iframe src=”https://onedrive.live.com/embed?cid=EB8674ECAD738B05&resid=EB8674ECAD738B05%21279&authkey=AEG_W3892FX4vs8&em=2&AllowTyping=True&wdHideHeaders=True” width=”100%” height=”620″]

Silver, N. (2012). How to Drown in Three Feet of Water. In “The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail — But Some Don’t” — New York, Penguin Press.

Mike Trout Photo Credit: Keith Allison