Simon: Which hitters overachieved in 2018?
From SABR member Mark Simon at ACTA Sports on March 19, 2019:
Who were the overachievers and underachievers of the 2018 MLB season?
It’s a question to consider for those evaluating their teams and conducting their fantasy drafts. Though there are no guarantees that the numbers will even out and that the player will return to his expected norms, understanding who overachieved and underachieved provides context to a player’s past performance.
Our defense-independent batting statistics (DIBS) can give expected results on every ball in play for a hitter by comparing the ball’s trajectory, direction and velocity to other similar batted balls and assigning value based on those results. We can then compare those to his actual offensive numbers to determine if a player underachieved or overachieved.
In other words, these numbers can tell us if a player may have hit into hard luck, played in an unfriendly ballpark, or been the victim of some good defense. Or perhaps he hit into good luck, got a few ballpark-friendly hits, or took advantage of some poor defense.
Read the full article here: https://www.statoftheweek.com
Originally published: March 20, 2019. Last Updated: March 20, 2019.