Equivalent Average - Revisited

About a month ago, we took our first look at Equivalent Average (EqA). As a quick refresher, EqA attempts to measure total offensive output by considering batting and baserunning stats with adjustments for home park, team pitching and league offensive level. It is considered a useful metric because it includes all aspects of offense and it can be used to estimate runs scored, which is a good indicator of overall production for fantasy purposes.

The formula for EqA is calibrated so that it resembles batting average. Raw EqA, calculated first, equals (H + TB + 1.5*(BB + HBP + SB) + SH + SF) divided by (AB + BB + HBP + SH + SF + CS + SB). Raw EqA is then adjusted for league difficulty so that the league average for EqA equals .260. For a detailed analysis of EqA and it's usefulness, see Baseball Prospectus' article explaining the calculation here.

When we last checked on May 1st, here were the EqA leaders in each league:

American League
1. Eric Hinske - .339
2. Carlos Quentin - .339
3. Manny Ramirez - .332
4. Carlos Guillen - .330
5. Casey Kotchman - .329
6. Josh Hamilton - .320
7. Adrian Beltre - .317
8. Milton Bradley - .315
9. Hideki Matsui - .314
10. Magglio Ordonez - .314

National League
1. Albert Pujols - .392
2. Chipper Jones - .378
3. Chase Utley - .369
4. Pat Burrell - .366
5. Rafael Furcal - .349
6. Derrek Lee - .347
7. Josh Willingham - .345
8. Connor Jackson - .342
9. Ryan Ludwick - .340
10. Lance Berkman - .339

Coming into today's action, here are the leaders (50 plate appearance minimum):

American League
1. Josh Hamilton - .334
2. Milton Bradley - .334
3. Alexi Casilla - .323
4. Howie Kendrick - .320
5. Carlos Quentin - .319
6. Ramon Vazquez - .317
7. Alex Rodriguez - .314
8. Jack Cust - .314
9. B.J. Upton - .312
10. Hideki Matsui - .310

National League
1. Lance Berkman - .391
2. Albert Pujols - .383
3. Chipper Jones - .382
4. Rafael Furcal - .349
5. Chase Utley - .347
6. Ryan Ludwick - .347
7. Josh Willingham - .344
8. Pat Burrell - .336
9. Nate McLouth - .333
10. Jason Bay - .332

Once again, the numbers in the National League are far and away better than the American League figures. Josh Hamilton's AL leading EqA of .334 would barely crack the top 10 in the NL. Second place holder Alexi Casilla's .323 would be good enough for just 14th overall in the NL. 7 of the top 10 AL players weren't in the top 10 last month. This was expected though, as we saw names last time that just didn't belong. With more plate appearances under their belt, the AL list of leaders is starting to contain the names that we'd expect. Of note among the AL leaders is Alexi Casilla. Casilla is hitting .326 with 2 HRs and 15 RBIs since being recalled in mid-May. Surprisingly, the speedster has only 2 SBs, a number he should imporove on over the remainder of the year. He's certainly someone worth keeping an eye on if he's available in your league - especially if you're looking to bolster SBs and average. Ride him while he's hot.

The NL leaders contain no surprises...almost. Ryan Ludwick has certainly caught the eye of fantasy players. He's hitting .323 with 13 HRs and 43 RBIs. Coming into the year, Ludwick was expected to be a platoon player against lefties in a crowded St. Louis outfield, at best, but he capitalized on Chris Duncan's slow start and took over the job completely. He's been hot all year, but was still available in most leagues through the middle of May. Also nice to see Jason Bay back up among the leaders in any category after a miserable 2007 season.