OPS - What is it?
OPS stands for On-base Percentage Plus Slugging. It's the sum of the a player's on-base percentage and their slugging percentage.
So, what's up with OPS? Why do we show it as the most important measure in our stats?
The short answer is OPS measures the ability of a player to NOT make outs while hitting for power. That is, OPS gauges the ability of a player to reach base by any means while also providing a comparison of their power. For the longer answer, keep reading...
On-base plus slugging (OPS) is a baseball statistic calculated as the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The abilities of a player both to get on base and to hit for power, two important hitting skills, are represented, making it an effective way of measuring the player's offensive worth. An OPS of .900 or higher in Major League Baseball puts the player in the upper echelon of offensive ability. Typically, the league leader in OPS will score near, and not necessarily below, the 1.000 mark.
Formula
The basic formula is
where OBP is on-base percentage, and SLG is slugging percentage. These percentages are defined
and
where:
- H = Hits
- BB = Bases on balls
- HBP = Times hit by pitch
- AB = At bats
- SF = Sacrifice flies
- TB = Total bases
Since OBP and SLG have different denominators, it is possible to rewrite the expression for OPS using a common denominator. This expression is mathematically identical to the simple sum of OBP and SLG:
Interpretation of OPS
Unlike many other statistics, a player's OPS does not have a simple intrinsic meaning, despite its usefulness as a comparative statistic.
One fault of OPS is that it weighs on-base average and slugging percentage equally, although on-base average correlates better with scoring runs. Magnifying this fault is that the numerical parts of OPS are not themselves typically equal (league-average slugging percentages are usually 75-100 points higher than league-average on-base percentages).
Leaders
The top ten Major League Baseball players in lifetime OPS (with at least 3,000 plate appearances through 2007) are:
- Babe Ruth, 1.1638
- Ted Williams, 1.1155
- Lou Gehrig, 1.0798
- Barry Bonds, 1.0512
- Albert Pujols, 1.0402
- Jimmie Foxx, 1.0376
- Hank Greenberg, 1.0169
- Todd Helton, 1.0138
- Rogers Hornsby, 1.0103
- Manny Ramírez, 1.0023
Source: www.baseball-reference.com
Albert Pujols has the highest career OPS for a right-handed batter.
The top ten single-season performances in MLB are (all left-handed hitters):
- Barry Bonds, 1.4217 (2004)
- Babe Ruth, 1.3818 (1920)
- Barry Bonds, 1.3807 (2002)
- Barry Bonds, 1.3785 (2001)
- Babe Ruth, 1.3586 (1921)
- Babe Ruth, 1.3089 (1923)
- Ted Williams, 1.2875 (1941)
- Barry Bonds, 1.2778 (2003)
- Babe Ruth, 1.2582 (1927)
- Ted Williams, 1.2566 (1957)
COACH CURT NOTE: Do you notice that ALL GOOD HITTERS HIT LEFT-HANDED?
Source: www.baseball-reference.com
The highest single-season mark for a right-handed hitter was 1.2449 by Rogers Hornsby in 1925 (13th on the all-time list). Since 1925, the highest single-season OPS for a right-hander is 1.2224 by Mark McGwire in 1998.