Weighted Runs Created (wRC) and Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+)
Description:
Runs Created (RC) was Bill James’ first attempt to quantify a player’s total offensive value and measure it by runs. This way, instead of looking at a player’s line and listing out all the details (e.g. 23 2B, 15 HR, 55 BB, 110 K, 19 SB, 5 CS), you could synthesize all the information into one metric and say, “Player x was worth 24 runs to his team last year.” While the idea was sound, James’ formula has since been superseded by Weighted Runs Created (wRC). Developed by Tangotiger and displayed at FanGraphs, wRC still measures how many total runs a player was worth over a time period, but is based off of wOBA instead of Bill James’ formulas.
Similar to OPS+, Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) measures how a player’s wRC compares with league average. League average is 100 and every point above 100 is a percentage point above league average, so a 125 wRC+ is 25% better than league average. Similarly, every point below 100 is a percentage point below league average. wRC+ is also park and league adjusted, meaning you can compare players that played in different years, parks, and leagues using this statistic. Want to know how Ted Williams compares with Albert Pujols in terms of offensive abilities? This is your statistic.
Context:
2009 wRC Numbers
| wRC | |
| Albert Pujols | 153.6 |
| Adam Dunn | 115.9 |
| Ichiro Suzuki | 103.8 |
| Nick Swisher | 96.2 |
| Jorge Cantu | 84.6 |
| Jose Lopez | 76.1 |
| Yuniesky Betancourt | 36.7 |
2009 wRC+ Numbers
| wRC+ | |
| Albert Pujols | 184 |
| Adam Dunn | 143 |
| Ichiro Suzuki | 129 |
| Nick Swisher | 132 |
| Jorge Cantu | 110 |
| Jose Lopez | 100 |
| Yuniesky Betancourt | 62 |
*Notice that Swisher has a higher wRC+ than Ichiro, even though Ichiro had more wRC. Chalk that up to the fact that wRC+ is league and park adjusted, while wRC is not.
Things to Remember:
- wRC is good for measuring offensive abilities, but wRAA is better. If you’re comparing players, use wRAA.
- When comparing players from different time periods or different years, use wRC+ since it adjusts for park and league effects.
- If you’re thinking about using OPS+, use wRC+ instead. wRC+ is based off of wOBA and therefore, is a more accurate depiction of a player’s offensive value than OPS+.
Links for Further Reading:
Hello, I read an article titled the Batter’s Run Average in the 1974 Baseball Research Journal by Richard Cramer and Pete Palmer and in the article they mention: An analysis using dozens of seasons of records and a computer model of baseball play, convinces us that the Batter’s Run Average explains run scoring better than any other indicator that can be derived from year end statistics. The Batter’s Run Average is On-Base Average multiplied by the Slugging Average or Runs Created per At-Bat. But isn’t Runs Created per Out even better yet? For example in 1970 Thurman Munson has a better Runs Created per 27 outs than Reggie Jackson but Reggie Jackson has a better Runs Created per At-Bat. Another example is 1974 where Cesar Cedeno had a better Runs Created per At-Bat than Greg Gross but Greg Gross had a better Runs Created per Out. I left out stolen bases and used this formula. Hits + Walks + HBP / AB + Walks + HBP multiplied by Slugging Pct. for the Batter’s Run Average. I used Outs as At-Bats minus Hits. Please let me know if Runs Created per out is better than Runs Created per At-Bat or if Runs Created per At-Bat is the better stat? Thanks and I appreciate all your help. Gary.