MIssing stats

While I appreciate some of the new methods of player evaluation brought about by Bill James and the Sabermetrics crowd, there's still a need for ones that focus on quantifying winning baseball and team play.

W+/- Wins Plus-Minus

Wins minus losses. Did the manager use that reliever to mop up in hopeless causes? Was the team that much better in their starting catcher's 135 games than in the 27 he missed? W+/- could tell you without having to slog through all the game logs.

While the new-math stathounds insist wins is an overrated statistic, at least for pitchers, I totally disagree. Whether in baseball or in life, some people inspire confidence and make everyone step up a notch just by being around. When Derrek Lee was injured in 2006, the Cubs lost more than a bat in the lineup and solid defense, they lost their anchor. A team that was 9-5 and half a game out of first through that game found themselves at 28-45 when he came back.

R+/- Runs Plus-Minus

Runs that a player’s team scores in excess of the opposition, while the player is in the game - a performance stat that removes the factor of high-scoring or low-scoring games. One of hockey's best stats, adapted to baseball.

RA - Runners Advanced

All bases advanced by runners, excluding the batter. This recognizes batters who hit with runners on base, make sure they’re the out on a fielder’s choice, make sacrifices, reach on errors and advance runners by two bases on a single or three on a double, which may not be all that valuable apart from runs and RBI in traditional statistics, but all of which are valuable aspects of team play. It also identifies pitchers who often get into trouble - two relievers with similar WHIPs and ERAs but different RAs would indicate which is more likely to be one minor slipup from a lead change in a tight ballgame.

BA - Bases Advanced

Similar to runners advanced. No matter how you get on or move up, it counts. Good stat for table setters. Whether you hit the ball or not, if you score, you get 4 BAs. If you advance to third and fail to score through no fault of your own, at least it counts for something. Bat your best BA hitters ahead of your best RA hitters. Tracking BA in addition to WHIP can help evaluate relief pitchers

RAA/BAA – Runners/Bases Advanced Average

Runners advanced divided by runners on base, and bases advanced divided by plate appearances. The averages remove factors such as mid-season callups or trades, injured players and bench players.

FC – Fielder’s Choice

Why put it on the scorecard if you’re not going to keep a tally? Batters with lots of FCs make contact with runners on base, and in a lucky year where the hops go their way, they could translate into runs. Pitchers with lots of FCs stay out of big innings and work their way out of jams, but in an unlucky year when the hops don't go their way, they could translate into runs.

Just a few ideas off the top of my head. I find WAR to be a deeply flawed pseudo-stat considering its increasing prominence - more on that later - but as a numbers geek I see no reason to keep looking for better ways to more thoroughly evaluate players' performances.