# Speed Score

Speed Score, often simply abbreviated to Spd, is a statistic used in Sabermetric studies to evaluate a baseball player's speed. It was invented by Bill James, and first appeared in the 1987 edition of the Bill James Baseball Abstract.[1][citation needed]

Speed score is on a scale of 0.0 to 10.0, with zero being the slowest and ten being the fastest. League average is generally around 4.5.[1]

In 2006, Baseball Prospectus developed their own version of speed score in order to "better [take] advantage of play-by-play data and [ensure] that equal weight is given to the five components."[2] It is on the same zero to ten scale and includes all the original factors (except for the player's defense). 5.0 is set as exactly league average. In general, very fast players tend to score around 7.0 and very slow players around 3.0.

## Formula

Speed Score is calculated using six factors: stolen base percentage, stolen base attempts as a percentage of opportunities, triples, double plays grounded into as a percentage of opportunities, runs scored as a percentage of times on base, and defensive position and range.[3][4]

The individuals factors are calculated as follows:

Factor 1 (Stolen base percentage):

${\displaystyle F1=20\cdot ({SB+3 \over SB+CS+7}-0.4)}$

Factor 2 (Stolen base attempts):

${\displaystyle F2={1 \over 0.07}\cdot {\sqrt {SB+CS \over 1B+BB+HBP}}}$

Factor 3 (Triples):

${\displaystyle F3={1 \over 0.0016}\cdot {3B \over AB-HR-K}}$

Factor 4 (Runs scored):

${\displaystyle F4=25\cdot ({R-HR \over H+BB+HBP-HR}-0.1)}$

Factor 5 (Grounded into double plays):

${\displaystyle F5={1 \over 0.007}\cdot (0.063-{GDP \over AB-HR-K})}$

Factor 6 (Defensive position and range):

This is dependent upon the player's primary position as follows:

P: ${\displaystyle F6=0}$
C: ${\displaystyle F6=1}$
1B: ${\displaystyle F6=2}$
2B: ${\displaystyle F6={5 \over 4}\cdot {PO+A \over G}}$
3B: ${\displaystyle F6={4 \over 2.65}\cdot {PO+A \over G}}$
SS: ${\displaystyle F6={4.6 \over 7}\cdot {PO+A \over G}}$
OF: ${\displaystyle F6=3\cdot {PO+A \over G}}$

Where PO is a putouts, A is assists, and G is games played.

If any factor is less than zero, it is converted to zero, and if any factor is greater than ten, it is converted to ten. The average of factors 1 through 6 is taken, and the result is the player's score.

## References

1. ^ "Spd". Fangraphs. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
2. ^ "Speed Score". Baseball Prospectus. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
3. ^ Ruane, Tom. "Figuring Speed Scores". Baseball Think Factory. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
4. ^ Carty, Derek. "How predictable are steals?". The Hardball Times. Retrieved 25 September 2016.