The modern way we measure defense is based on the difficulty of the play and the run value of the batted ball. This data is available dating back to 2012. These are also the stats that populate the Spray Charts for fielders, so you can view them visually as well.
So for example, if a player has been hit 40 “Likely” balls and has made 35 plays on those 40, they would have a “Likely” rate of 87.5%. Those plays are grouped into six bins:Īt FanGraphs, we track the number of balls hit to a player at each difficulty and the percentage of those plays they made in the given season. In a basic sense, each play is rated based on how often a player at that position has made a very similar play. Inside Edge Fielding stats are, like the name indicates, tracked by Inside Edge and their particular methodology is not publicly information. There are six categories of plays based on how often a fielder at that position would make the play in question.ĭefensive value can be difficult to measure, but Inside Edge Fielding stats offer an additional way to evaluate what is happening on the field.
Inside Edge Fielding is a set of statistics that measures how often a player has made a defense play of a particular difficulty.
