So, I'm just surfing the net and relaxing waiting for the Giants game and wanted to check out WAR leaders just to see.
I'm absolutely a big baseball fan, but really haven't ever gotten my head around WAR -- I'm just not a huge math guy and once we start getting to multi-category stats beyond OPS, I kind of lose it.
I understand the concept of WAR and the general values of when someone is a starter, all-star, MVP candidate etc. by WAR. But I don't really understand what it shows especially with pitchers.
So, anyway I want to ask a couple of questions about Nola v. deGrom in WAR.
I found two sites and two different listings:
Fangraphs (linked here) has deGrom leading the league at 7.7 and has Nola 7th at 5.3.
Baseball Reference (which I'll link in my next post) has Nola 1 at 9.4 and deGrom 3rd at 8.3.
How can there be such a big difference? Also, what stats are they looking at to possibly put Nola ahead? deGrom has better ERA better ERA_, lower WHIP, better K/9, lower BB/9, more IP per start, less HR per 9 -- so, what is BB reference looking at to rank Nola ahead of deGrom -- just doesn't make sense to me at all. Any insight as to what WAR prioritizes and the different models would be really great.
Thanks!
Fangraphs WAR - (
New Window )
Baseball Reference leaders - ( New Window )
ESPN Pitching leaders - ( New Window )