Positional Adjustment
I just implemented a very slight change to how we calculate the positional adjustment for WAR. Previously we were calculating it based on full games played at a position. Now it is being calculated by innings played, which is a bit more precise.
This may shift a player’s positional adjustment up or down a run at the most, and will mainly impact multi-position players, but that’s about it.
David Appelman is the creator of FanGraphs.
So what is the new formula?
The formula is exactly the same, but instead of giving a guy a full game’s positional adjustment for playing only 5 innings in the field, he now only gets 5 innings of adjustment.
What kind of effect did this have on Zobrist’s WAR? I seem to remember him below Pujols and now he’s above. I might be completely wrong about that though.
Zobrist was always above Pujols last season.
This had almost no effect on anyone’s individual WAR.
I think Pujols went up .1 and Mauer went down .1, but I’d guess it would be a much smaller adjustment that only effects the guys that were close to _._5 wins.
IS there an adjustment for the ability to play multiple positions? It’s more valuable that Ben Zobrist can shift from Outfield to Infield than it would be if he was an obligate shortstop.
Because of his flexibility, the Rays can move up either Jennings or Sean Rodriguez, whoever is ready. That has additional value beyond being able to play a tough position.
If it turns out Sean Rod is ready and Jennings is not, BZA will play Right, which will hurt his WAR score, when in fact, he’s actually more valuable, because the Rays get to play the better players.
If you’re looking to evaluate the player’s capabilities, then yes, it’s more valuable that Zorilla can play a ton of positions. But if you’re looking at how it affects his actual performance, then the positional adj. are just going to give him credit for what he does, not what he can do. Giving him extra credit for being able to switch positions would be unfair to those who are asked to play one position even though they could probably play others. I’d be willing to bet most shortstops can play second base, but it doesn’t mean we give them credit for it.
The idea is that WAR measures performance, so if Zobrist plays a certain set of games at these various positions, it only gives him credit for that.