What Does OPS Mean in Baseball? What is Good OPS?
If one wants to evaluate the hitters, the following way is to gauge their total OPS. OPS helps to determine the score of the batter. Now let us dig down more about OPS baseball.
What does OPS mean in baseball? OPS is the acronym for On-base plus slugging. OPS measures the stats of the hitter by using two stats. The stats of how efficiently the hitter reaches the base and hits for power. It calculates the slugging percentage and the on-base percentage.
This article will thoroughly discuss what OPS is and how useful it is. Also, we will discuss the method to calculate the OPS.
How do you Calculate OPS?
If you have the on-base plus slugging percentage and slugging percentage, it will become easy to calculate the OPS because OPS is calculated by adding the known value of both the on-base plus slugging percentage and slugging percentage. Unfortunately, if you don’t have both numbers, it won’t be easy to calculate the batter’s OPS.
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Also, you will have difficulty calculating OPS directly as it’s a long and complex equation. But you can separately calculate SLG and OBP and then add them together. The reason why you can not calculate the OPS is that OBP and SLG have different formulas and denominators, so it makes the situation even worse.
So, the easy way to calculate the OBP is to add all the walks, hits, and hit-by-pitches; now, divide the added numbers by the number of at-bats, adding it with walks, hit-by-pitches, and sacrifice flies. The OBP equation looks like this:
OBP= (hits + walks + hit by pitch) / (at-bats plus walks + hit by pitches + sacrifice flies)
However, the slugging percentage is way more straightforward and easy to calculate. It goes like this, and the total bases are divided by at-bats. After getting both numbers from the above equation, you can add them to get the OPS.
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For instance, if there are 100 at-bats, 30 hits, 10 walks, 5 hit-by-pitch, and 5 sacrifice flies.
Now while using the numbers on the OBP formula, 30+10+5. This adds up to 45. Now, the sum of 100+10+5+5 is 120. So, divide 45 by 120, which gives you a .375 OBP.
Now let’s put some numbers for calculating the slugging percentage. The total bases from 15 singles, 10 doubles, 15 triples, and 20 home runs give you 120, which you have to divide by 100 at-bats. So the slugging percentage becomes .600. Now add OBP and slugging percentage, .375 + .600, giving you a total of .975 OPS.
What is a good OPS in baseball?
OPS changes over time, but when it comes to history, some numbers benchmark the good and bad OPS of all times.
Over the past years, OPS greater than .800 is considered a good number, while OPS of .900 is excellent. However, OPS of 1.000 or higher is considered elite. On the other hand, OPS lower than .700 is considered poor, and OPS below .600 is very poor.
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What is the difference between OPS and OPS+?
The main difference between the OPS and OPS+ is of some importance for baseball players. The OPS only gives you the score of the batter and does not shed light on factors that may affect the batter’s ballpark altitude or dimensions. However, OPS+ gives you numbers to adjust those factors. However, the difference between the two is clear.
What is the highest single season OPS in baseball?
Barry Bonds is the person who holds the record of obtaining the highest OPS score. He had the highest staggering score of 1.422 in 2004. Furthermore, he obtained an MLB score of .609. The slugging mark that he scored was .812.
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On Base Percentage vs. Batting Average?
OPS show a more comprehensive picture of a hitter’s contribution to their team; that’s why it is said to be better than the batting average. Another benefit of OPS includes you will have a chance to win various rewards when you get on base through extra-base hits or walks. These extra rewards will help the team to score more runs. In the batting average, you can’t count a walk; even if you have extra-base hits, these will be counted as singles.
Does wOBA give better stats than OPS?
Yes, Weighted On-base Average (wOBA) and Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) are considered to give better stats than OPS. WOBA is static, which affects the player and how it will reach the base. Apart from that, the player’s odds of crossing the plate after getting on base are also calculated. Calculating everything, a hitter contributes a mean value to their team. No doubt WOBA also gives a better calculation of offensive production than OPS.
Moreover, WOBA is hitting statics related to run creation, so everything a hitter does will be added. If you want a higher WRC+, focus on high slugging percentages, fewer strikeouts, and more walks; it will automatically increase the WRC+.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an average OPS in Baseball?
The average OPS in baseball is considered .7000 to .7666.
What is a good OPS in college baseball?
There are different categories for good, excellent, and average OPS. The following numbers fall in the good OPS category.
.8334 to .8999.
When did OPS become a stat in baseball?
Branch Rickey was the first to come up with OPS statistics. Also, he devised OPS in the 1940s and ’50s.
What is the highest OPS in baseball history?
The highest OPS in the history of baseball was 1.164 by Babe Ruth.
Conclusion
On the whole, OPS evaluates the hitter’s performance. A formula is used to calculate the performance of the batter. However, the OPS formula is complicated, but you can use two different formulas separately to calculate the OPS.
In this article, we have also discussed the method to calculate OPS to make it easier for the readers to understand the example through the supposed numbers. The scores fall into the good, very good, average, and above-average categories. The scores falling into a particular category tells whether the score is poor, good, very good, or average.
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