{"id":94,"date":"2020-10-14T13:37:54","date_gmt":"2020-10-14T13:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/statcorner.com\/?page_id=94"},"modified":"2020-10-14T14:31:59","modified_gmt":"2020-10-14T14:31:59","slug":"what-is-wrc","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/statcorner.com\/mlb\/stats\/wrc-and-wrc-plus","title":{"rendered":"What are wRC and wRC+?"},"content":{"rendered":"

wRC and wRC+ Definitions<\/span><\/h1>\n

It\u2019s easy to make the game more complicated than it needs to be, but when a batter steps to the plate, he really has one overall goal to accomplish: to create runs. Actions which help create runs include getting hits, drawing walks, and more. On the other side, actions which harm a team\u2019s opportunity to score runs include ground outs, fly outs, and of course, strikeouts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s against this backdrop that we introduce two statistics: wRC and wRC+. The abbreviation \u201cwRC\u201d stands for Weighted Runs Created. These stats are based on an earlier stat simply called Runs Created, which was developed by Bill James. The Runs Created version was typically used to assess how many runs a team would be expected to score, but it was also used occasionally to evaluate players. wRC and wRC+ improve on this earlier version by adding weights to specific outcomes in order to more fairly value performance. For instance, a double with worth more than a single, but by how much? The weights used by these stats make sure each type of offensive performance receives proper credit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s discuss the idea of \u2018creating runs\u2019 and why it is so important. Obviously, wins and losses are decided by runs, so scoring as many as possible is the goal. However, assigning credit for those runs is difficult, because multiple players typically combine their efforts to produce a run. Both wRC and wRC+ get around this problem by offering the appropriate weights to events that can lead to the production of runs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, why the need for two stats? There are a couple of important differences between the two. For one thing, wRC is considered a \u201ccounting\u201d stat because it accumulates as a season goes along. On the other hand, wRC+ is a \u201crate\u201d stat, which moves up and down throughout the season\u00a0 based on a player\u2019s performance. A good way to understand this difference is to think about hits and batting average. Hits is simply the total number of hits a player has accumulated, while batting average is the rate at which he records hits. wRC and wRC+ are similar. wRC adds up the Weighted Runs Created by a player for a given time period, while wRC+ establishes a rate that factors in important elements like league and park factors.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Concept of wRC and wRC+<\/span><\/h1>\n

As modern statistics have analyzed the game more carefully, it has become clear that more advanced statistical metrics can give fans and teams a better perspective on the abilities of each individual hitter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the heart of wRC and wRC+ is a statistic known as weighted on-base average, or wOBA. The basic idea behind wOBA is that each hit should be given its fair value. In a batting average, all hits are valued equally, which is obviously not the case in the real world. For instance, a home run is far more valuable than a single, but batting average sees them as equals. Something like slugging percentage attempts to get around this issue, but it still doesn\u2019t capture the full picture accurately. With wOBA, we\u2019re able to assign fair values to various types of hits, giving an improved picture of batter performance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As you will see when we get to the calculation for wRC, it relies heavily on wOBA for these benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why are wRC and wRC+ Important?<\/span><\/h1>\n

These two statistics are important because they are an excellent way to sum up a player\u2019s offensive contribution in a single number. With so many stats available in baseball today, it can be hard to know where to focus your attention when evaluating hitters, and these two stats offer a nice solution to that problem. By assigning appropriate credit for the runs a hitter creates, wRC and wRC+ have become important metrics in hitter evaluation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Specifically, it is really wRC+ that takes so much of what matters and rolls it up into a single number. Since it is scaled to have league average performance always equal 100, it takes just a glance to see whether a player is an above- or below-average hitter. A wRC+ over 100 is an above average performance, while anything under 100 is below league average. Some baseball fans who are put off by the complexity of many modern statistics would find that they can easily understand what wRC+ represents, once they are introduced. This is one of the stats that does have the potential to reach a much wider audience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How are wRC and wRC+ Calculated?<\/span><\/h1>\n

Although these stats share plenty in common, including a name, the calculations are actually quite different.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start by looking at how wRC is calculated:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

wRC = (((wOBA – League wOBA\/wOBA Scale) + (League R\/PA)) * PA<\/span><\/p>\n

Some important points:<\/span><\/p>\n