From a statistical point of view (1)

I am obsessed with stats. Though that sentence is very broad, I am telling the truth. The statistical world mystifies me. I enjoy writing down players stats, and using stats in predictions. During February, I am going to take you on a statistical journey. Today, I am going to look at Clayton Kershaw's stats, and tell you what I observe. Lets look at the stat that stat-haters dread, WAR (Wins Above Replacement). WAR means how many wins the player gave you above the next candidate to get the job. A sister stat to this is WAA (Wins Above Average) which mainly applies to pitchers. Kershaw, over his 6 Year MLB career has a 22.9 WAA. In 2013 alone, he averaged a 6.0 WAA, which is the highest of his career, and might of got him last years Cy Young Award. The other candidates for NL Cy Young were Jose Fernandez and Adam Wainwright. Lets compare there stats. Fernandez, who won NL Rookie of the Year last year, had a 4.9 WAA. While it is less than Kershaw, 4.9 for a rookie is amazing, and with all the other stats out there, you can say Fernandez deserved the Cy Young. Now to Wainwright. In 2012, Wainwright had a -0.2 WAA, and was still considered the ace of the Cardinals. This means that WAA is not the best stat to use, as it can be misleading. However, in 2013, Wainwright got to a 4.2 WAA, which was a huge increase over 2012. So, how do you calculate WAA? Simple you take the percentage of W-L%  then subtract .500 then multiply by the number of games played. Hope you enjoyed this!