Q: I know some baseball abbreviations, but there are a bunch of new ones. Here are some I don’t know: WCGB, L10, STR, HM, AW, WHIP, FIP, WAR and OPS. I don’t understand what they mean. Can you help?
—Marvin Hand, Stockbridge
A: Of the statistical abbreviations mentioned, WCGB, L10, STRK, HM and AW concern teams in the standings. The others — WHIP, FIP, WAR and OPS – are individual stats.
- WCGB (wild card games behind) is the number of games a team is behind the second wild card qualifier in each league, according to MLB.com.
- L10 (last 10) is the record of that team in the past 10 games.
- STRK (streak) is how many games a team has won or lost in a row. For example, if a team has won three consecutive games, there will be a W3 in the STRK column.
- HM (home record) is a team's win-loss record in home games.
- AW (away record) is a team's win-loss record in road games.
- WHIP is a statistic that measures how many walks and hits a pitcher allows per inning. The formula is walks plus hits, divided by innings pitched.
- FIP (fielding independent pitching) is a measure of a pitcher's success that doesn't "involve defense, strikeouts, walks, hit by pitches and home runs allowed," FanGraphs.com states.
- WAR (wins above replacement) is a number that is used to "summarize a player's total contributions to their team," according to FanGraphs.com, by measuring that player against a replacement player. Several statistics contribute to WAR.
- OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) is a combination of a player's on-base and slugging percentages.
Andy Johnston with Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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