Sprint speed & OAA: legs and gloves, finally measured
Level 0 showed fielding % grading the wrong thing. What does grading the RIGHT thing look like?
Sprint speed: a player's feet per second in his fastest one-second window. 27 ft/s is average, 30+ is elite, and it's measured — not inferred from steals. It ages fast and honestly (watch a veteran drop 0.5 ft/s a year).
OAA: the range revolution
For every ball in play, Statcast computes a catch probability from how far the fielder had to go, how fast the ball got there, and (for infielders) the runner's speed. Make a 25% play, earn +0.75; miss a 95% play, −0.95. Sum a season = Outs Above Average. The rangy shortstop from Level 0 finally gets paid, and the statue finally gets billed.
Arm strength (mph on the hardest throws) completes the defensive picture. Together these turned defense from anecdote plus errors into measurement — and they feed the defensive half of WAR, one level up.
How this stat lies to you
- OAA is range-centric — positioning brilliance (being where the ball goes) is invisible to it.
- Catcher defense is its own universe (framing, blocking) — OAA doesn't cover it.
- One season of OAA at a new position can mislead; skills transfer, familiarity lags.
Check yourself
1. OAA credits a fielder based on…
2. Why did OAA solve Level 0's range paradox?