Yeesh, that's kind of ugly. Lemme try in English.
Okay, when you see something that looks like "3e1", "4e6", etc., the first number is the "range" rating, and the second number is the "error" rating. The error rating is pretty simple -- if the guy played every inning of every game at this position, it's how many errors you'd expect him to make. But of course, a fielder could make few errors and yet be a bad defender because he doesn't get to many balls either, or the opposite could be the case. So you also have the range rating, which is on a 1-5 scale where 1 is Gold Glove quality and 5 is a butcher.
If you want to see how many runs allowed an infielder or outfielder's defensive rating adds up to, check out
my article on the subject.
Catchers, as you can see, are more complex and have more ratings. First of all, their range rating refers to their ability to prevent PB/WP and to block the plate. So although you might not think of catchers as having "range"
per se, it still is a very important rating, especially since every plate block is a two-run swing in a game. Catchers (and outfielders) also have an "arm" rating in parentheses. As you'd imagine, this comes into play when a runner tries to steal on a catcher, or tries to take an extra base on an outfielder. Much like going to the doctor, negative is good, positive is bad. For instance, Napoli's -1 means that a baserunner's steal attempt will be 5% less likely to succeed than it would against an average catcher. If the arm were +2, steal attempts would be 10% more likely to succeed, and so forth. The scale is normally from -5 (best) to +5 (worst).
"pb-0" means that Napoli hardly ever allows a passed ball. He might not literally allow 0, since as mentioned PBs can come off range rating checks, but it shouldn't be many. This number will be between 0 (best) and 20 (worst).
The T-rating is the chance of a throwing error on a SB attempt. There is a 15% chance that the T-rating comes into play on an attempt. Napoli's T-8 equates to a 40% chance that, if it does come up, it'll be an error. So, on (.15 * .4 = ) 6% of his throws, he'll make a throwing error. That's not too great(and note that as a result, Napoli is going to make more than one error on the year -- the "e1" only applies to fielding errors), but it's quite playable if you hit like Mike Napoli
Again, this number will be between 0 (best) and 20 (worst).
Now, base stealing. Ignore the "(A)"; that applies to less advanced versions of the game.
The * means that, if the runner isn't held on first, he'll automatically get a lead. (As you'd expect, holding the runner decreases his chance to steal, but also increases the chance that the defense will allow a hit.)
"2-6,12" are the numbers that the runner needs to roll on two six-sided dice in order to get the lead. De Aza will get a lead if he rolls 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 12 on the two six-sided dice. You can look up dice probabilities online (eg
here) and see what that adds up to; in this case, it's 44.4%, which is very high.
There is no number after the slash. If there were, that would be the number(s) that, if the runner rolls them on the two six-sided dice, means he is automatically caught stealing. So it's good that De Aza doesn't have any.
"(17-15)" are his base chances to steal second with and without a lead, respectively. (The 15 also represents his chance to steal third, which is only possible with a lead.) 17 means that his base chance to steal second with the lead is 85%; 15 means that his base chance to steal second even without the lead is 75%. (That is then adjusted to account for the catcher's arm, the pitcher's "hold" rating, and whether the runner is being held.) De Aza is overall an extremely good basestealer, with a great chance both to get the lead and to steal the base once he gets it, or even if he doesn't.
Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 12:55 pm