Last update: Sun May 3 08:16:00 2009 PT

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What the stats mean:

Major Leagues

Real Stats (no translation) Regular Translation Peak Translation
American League Hitters Hitters Hitters
Pitchers Pitchers Pitchers
National League Hitters Hitters Hitters
Pitchers Pitchers Pitchers

Triple A

Real Stats (no translation) Regular Translation Peak Translation
International League Hitters Hitters Hitters
Pitchers Pitchers Pitchers
Pacific Coast League Hitters Hitters Hitters
Pitchers Pitchers Pitchers
Mexican League Hitters Hitters Hitters
Pitchers Pitchers Pitchers

Double A

Real Stats (no translation) Regular Translation Peak Translation
Eastern League Hitters Hitters Hitters
Pitchers Pitchers Pitchers
Southern League Hitters Hitters Hitters
Pitchers Pitchers Pitchers
Texas League Hitters Hitters Hitters
Pitchers Pitchers Pitchers

Advanced A

Real Stats (no translation) Regular Translation Peak Translation
California League Hitters Hitters Hitters
Pitchers Pitchers Pitchers
Carolina League Hitters Hitters Hitters
Pitchers Pitchers Pitchers
Florida State League Hitters Hitters Hitters
Pitchers Pitchers Pitchers

Regular A

Real Stats (no translation) Regular Translation Peak Translation
Midwest League Hitters Hitters Hitters
Pitchers Pitchers Pitchers
South Atlantic League Hitters Hitters Hitters
Pitchers Pitchers Pitchers

Real Stats (no translation) are exactly that - the player's actual, untouched statistics. The equivalent average given here is only adjusted for the league offensive and the home park - no difficulty adjustments at all. An average player in any league has an EqA of .260, by definition, and that is how they will appear here. Likewise with pitchers - while the stat line shows his actual innings and runs allowed (it says ER, but it is really R), the various forms of ERA are adjusted to be 4.50 for an average pitcher. If I haven't screwed up somewhere, these should match exactly to the "adjusted for season" values on a major league DT card. If you are going to a game, major league or minor league, and you want to know what kind of performance to expect from him, these are the numbers to look at.

Regular Translation: This applies adjustments for league difficulty to the player statistics, resulting in a changed line. Everybody, from every park, is translated to the same underlying standard. Hitters go to a league that hits .270/.330/.420 with a .260 eqa, pitchers go to a league that allows 9 hits, 1 home run, 3 walks, and 6 strikeouts per nine innings with a 4.50 ERA. For majors, these should be a close - but not necessarily exact - match for the "adjusted for all-time" numbers (the translation process can cause slight differences from the exact rating, typically no more than two points of EqA, unless PA are really low.) Ideally, this is how the player would perform if he were called up to the majors right now - allowing for the difference between the real majors and the standard league. In practice, they fall short. Most of that is because the player most likely to be promoted is the one who is playing farthest over his head, a form of selection bias. Players in AA or lower are even more likely to fall short, because the translation routine is calibrated for one-level jumps, and there does appear to be an additional drop in performance for players whotry to jump two (or more) levels at once.

Peak Translation: Applies a typical aging pattern to the regular translation, to try and assess how good the player will be at his peak. Peak generally means somewhere around age 27; however, since the components of offense don't age at the same rates (speed decays earlier than power, for instance), and since players don't have the same mix of those components, the actual peak age has some variability, as early as 25 for pure speedsters and as late as 30 for sluggers. The adjustments for pitchers are considerably more sketchy; the very idea of a typical aging curve relies on predictable, steady changes in performance, while pitchers tendencies are dominated by essentially unpredictable point impacts, most commonly either injuries or developing a new pitch. All in all, though, the peak translation is an important tool for me to assess prospect status.

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