Happy Valley Hardball with a sabermetrics twist

Now that we are a third of the way through Big Ten conference play, I thought I’d take a look at some the top players around the league (data is as off 4/14). Here are my top ten lists using some traditional measures (e.g. batting average) and some not so traditional sabermetric measures (e.g. runs created).

First the old standby: Batting average

The second most popular hitting stat: Slugging percentage

Now the most universally recognized sabermetrics stat: OPS (On Base Percentage plus Slugging Percentage)

And lastly, another highly regarded sabermetrics stat: Runs Created

In my book, OPS and Runs Created are the two most important measures to use in evaluating a player’s offensive performance. However, I do recognize the popularity of two other measures, home runs and RBI, so I’m including them here for sake of completeness.

Earlier this week, Brian at Big Ten Hardball, asked and answered the question “who are your top five candidates for Player of the Year?”. Using the data above as supporting evidence, I give you my picks:

• Nate Recknagel, Michigan
• Josh Phegley, Indiana
• Mike Kalina, Northwestern
• Jake Goebbert, Northwestern

and I’m going to cop out and not name a fifth. Brian doesn’t agree with me on Kalina, but considering how he’s flirting with a .500 batting average, I have to put him on my list.