ALPB Roundup has completed enough 2020 projections to post early OPS+ and FIP projections for the forthcoming season. Let’s take a look at our projected top 10s after two months of signings for 2020.
What is OPS+?
To understand OPS+, we should first define OPS. OPS stands for On-Base Plus Slugging and is simply calculated by adding a player’s on-base percentage and slugging percentage. While OPS is not perfect, it does a good job of showing how successful a batter is at reaching base and hitting for extra bases, which is typically what batters are trying to achieve.
OPS+ takes OPS and adjusts for small variables like park effects or league trends, and puts the statistic on a simple scale to understand. A 100 OPS+ will always be league average and each point up or down is one percentage point above or below average. OPS+ also allows us to use OPS+ to compare players from different years and on different teams.
Below is a look at the projected top 10 batters in OPS+ for 2020 as of March 8th.
What is FIP?
FIP, or Fielding Independent Pitching, measures what a pitcher’s ERA would be if they pitched experiencing league average results on balls in play and league average scenarios, timing, and positioning. In other words, without any negative or positive effect from their defense, how does a pitcher stack up?
Below are the projected top 10 pitchers by FIP for 2020 (as of March 8th).
Indy Ball Nation 