And no, we are not talking about Grade Point Average. We are referring to an offensive player’s Gross Production Average, which conveniently abbreviates to GPA. It is one of the most effective advanced metrics to assess a player’s total contribution at the plate.
We provide three reasons as to why coaches and evaluators should use GPA as a shorthand to quantify offensive performance. At the end of our analysis, we will provide a convincing rationale as to why teams in all levels of the sport should rely on Gross Production Average. At the end, we breakdown who was the most productive batters in Major League Baseball in 2019 based on this stat.
1. OPS Variant
The formal equation for GPA is below:
Gross Production Average (GPA) = ((1.8 * OBP%) + (SLG%)) / (4)
When we say OPS variant, we mean that it uses the components of that metric, in OBP% and SLG%, and configures them in a different variation to understand an offensive player's overall production in the batter's box. Where OPS falls short is that it is a crude addition of two statistics with dissimilar denominators.
It is also important to note that OBP% is weighted in this equation, relative to SLG%. GPA places a greater emphasis on a hitter getting on-base versus hitting for extra bases.
2. Reads Like Batting Average
This reason in particular is why GPA is effective: It's on the same scale as batting average. For example, if a player has a Production Average of 2.80, they are highly effective offensively. On the other hand, if that number is 0.200, then they are not great at the plate.
When general statistics and advanced metrics are easily readable, they then become understandable. GPA easily translates from analysts, to coaches, to decision-makers and so on. When this synchronous level of knowledge exists, there is little disagreement in determining a player's value.
3. Park-Adjusted
With the fascinating layout of Coors Field in Colorado, or the Pitcher's Paradise of Petco Park in San Diego, advanced metrics are being created with the idea of taking away how a ballpark impacts the outcomes of certain events.
Notice in the equation above, the end result from the numerator is divided by a factor of four, which allows the overall number to be ballpark adjusted. As a result, these weird baseball stadiums will not distort an offensive player's production output and their GPA.
The Most Productive Hitters
In reference to Figure One below, it should not be a surprise to anyone that the ten best position players, based on this statistic, consists of these tremendous hitters:
Between MVP winners Christian Yelich and Mike Trout to talented, rising superstars in Juan Soto and Cody Bellinger, GPA accurately depicts the most productive batters in Major League Baseball. Think of it in this context: if you went to your hardcore baseball friend and presented them with this list and framed it as "The Ten Best Hitters In The Game," without GPA as the decider, they would be challenged to find a substantial argument against it.
Overall, GPA is an excellent measure in capturing a hitter's total offensive production and can be used in offensive strategy development and place players in favorable positions of success.
Thank you so much for choosing The Launch Angle for some out-of-the-box baseball analysis! If you liked this post, click on this link for our previous article.
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