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VTChip VTChip OP
Apr 26, 2024 at 09:38 AM ET
D1 Softball: "Virginia Tech has an outfield for the ages"
In their weekly "Inside the Numbers" column, they have a section on the VT outfield, which is not necessarily shocking to any of us that follows the team, but nevertheless nice to see reported on a national basis. "In a series between two of the most prolific offenses in the country, let alone the ACC, Virginia Tech had things pretty much its own way in outscoring Georgia Tech 29-10. Addy Greene, Cori McMillan and Emma Ritter were in the thick of the run production, which will come as a surprise to absolutely no one. Virginia Tech’s outfield hit .367 with three home runs, 12 RBI and 10 runs. "That trio has been excellent all season. But just how special a group did Pete D’Amour assemble once McMillan arrived from Radford after last season? If you go by WAR, the best in the country. And it isn’t even all that close. The Hokies have a bigger lead on second place Oklahoma than the Sooners have on sixth place Texas A&M. "But it’s more impressive than that. One player can do a lot of the work in an outfield’s collective WAR. Not in Blacksburg. All three regular starters had at least a 3.00 WAR entering the week. Not only are they the only team in the Top 25 with three such starters, they’re the only team in the Top 25 with two such starters. They have three. There are 10 such players on the other 24 teams combined." I don't necessarily understand the WAR metric that D1 Softball is referencing. But I just ran the season long numbers for those three and they are totally ridiculous: A combined batting average of .424 with 38 HRs and 127 RBIs. And a combined slugging percentage of .805. Both batting average and slugging percentage would ranking in the top 25 if it were a single player. It truly may be "an outfield for the ages."

19 Replies

J
Jbohokie63
Awesome stuff. Thx for sharing.
S
schubee
WAR = Wins above replacement. So it's how many extra wins you produce...
over an x-game season vs. a lower-level ("replacement") player. MLB defines this as a "readily available fill-in free agent." Not sure what's under the hood with that stat, but that's the gist of it. It's used across a lot of sports.
laphroaig laphroaig
What bunch of mumbo-jumbo. They're the BEST . . . .but we knew that! :-)
HokieAllMyLife HokieAllMyLife
Let me translate. Hokie SB Outies are unicorns. Don't pitch to them.
They will embarrass you and you will cry.
laphroaig laphroaig
There's no crying in softball! That would be a great line in a movie, huh?
HokieAllMyLife HokieAllMyLife
I could see Pete saying it.
S
schubee
Of course. But you can now say it without bias.
laphroaig laphroaig
Ex umpire. Used to watching games with no bias.
B
Brewing_Hokie
Liar! You’re biased cause you want the Hokies to win!
laphroaig laphroaig
No need to want the Hokies to win when I know they will win.
B
Brewing_Hokie
Dang you might be smarter than we give you credit for after all! 😂
S
schubee
Same!
VTChip VTChip OP
Thank you. Here's my question on that
Isn't it possible that a "replacement player" on one team might be better than a replacement player on another team? So is it a consistent metric? For example, isn't it possible that Team A has better depth than Team B so their WAR number is worse because their subs are better?
hokiepro hokiepro
Yeah..like putting Trinity Martin in place of one of them?
I mean her last several games are 🔥
S
schubee
I don't think so.
No clue how they calculate it for college softball, but I would assume the replacement player is consistent across all teams. But according to MLB (see link), the replacement player is different depending on position. i.e. the imaginary replacement 1st baseman would be a better offensive player than the imaginary replacement catcher.
Link: MLB WAR
vatechcowpatty vatechcowpatty
Going to be tough replacing 2 of 3 next year. Not sure our options there,
but we may see somebody we list as an infielder move.
V
VT954
There are options
We have several freshmen that can step up & are capable of playing IF & OF in the game.
VTChip VTChip OP
All of our seniors will be tough to replace for sure
I'm going to just enjoy this season and worry about that next fall. It's a good class coming in and we have some depth.
BJ Slade BJ Slade
You definitely need to enjoy this season. This lineup is so deep
The top 6 are all home run threats and hit for average with 4 of the 6 having a batting average of .375 or better. Chatfield has the lowest average (.321) of the 6 but her OPS is 1.249. Ritter is batting .447 with a ridiculous OPS of 1.269. Even when you get to the bottom-third of the order, Aldridge is hitting .321 and Rohs is improving and becoming a very pesky hitter. It's got to give opponents nightmares trying to figure out how to navigate this lineup.