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I seem to recall alluding to this a couple of years ago, but I can't find the thread. But now I have Japanese League stats, too, so it becomes more interesting.
I think there is only one stat that can be used to measure the relative quality of play at different levels of baseball: Combined WP/PB per game. That is a stat that cannot be fudged by scorers -- if a runner advances without batter action or attempting a steal, it has to be called either a Wild Pitch or a Passed Ball, there is no way to get around it. All other stats tend to equalize where the defense and offense are at similar level, or can be inflated by scorer's judgment and expectation of effort.
Here is the number of WP/PB per game at various levels:
2013 PB/WP per game
0.643 Japanese Central League Foreign
0.830 MLB
1.067 International League AAA
1.169 Southern League AA
1.485 Mexican League
1.612 Frontier League Independent
1.780 Midwest League A
1.796 Italian League Foreign
2.043 Dutch Major League Foreign
2.956 Pioneer League Rookie
3.349 Arizona League Rookie Winter
Every league is in the order one would expect, based on the skill levels of the players. But the foreign leagues are surprising, and the presence of the Japanese Central League firmly at the top of the list is fascinating. There were four players in the Italian League had major league experience, including Chris Aguila, who played 149 games in four MLB seasons.
I tried to rank NCAA stats in this context, but for some reason NCAA stats count PB, but not WP, so I am unable to determine the number of those scoring events. But as I recall, I had previously found such stats, and rated high-level conference teams in NCAA between the level of AA and AAA.
I seem to recall alluding to this a couple of years ago, but I can't find the thread. But now I have Japanese League stats, too, so it becomes more interesting.
I think there is only one stat that can be used to measure the relative quality of play at different levels of baseball: Combined WP/PB per game. That is a stat that cannot be fudged by scorers -- if a runner advances without batter action or attempting a steal, it has to be called either a Wild Pitch or a Passed Ball, there is no way to get around it. All other stats tend to equalize where the defense and offense are at similar level, or can be inflated by scorer's judgment and expectation of effort.
Here is the number of WP/PB per game at various levels:
2013 PB/WP per game
0.643 Japanese Central League Foreign
0.830 MLB
1.067 International League AAA
1.169 Southern League AA
1.485 Mexican League
1.612 Frontier League Independent
1.780 Midwest League A
1.796 Italian League Foreign
2.043 Dutch Major League Foreign
2.956 Pioneer League Rookie
3.349 Arizona League Rookie Winter
Every league is in the order one would expect, based on the skill levels of the players. But the foreign leagues are surprising, and the presence of the Japanese Central League firmly at the top of the list is fascinating. There were four players in the Italian League had major league experience, including Chris Aguila, who played 149 games in four MLB seasons.
I tried to rank NCAA stats in this context, but for some reason NCAA stats count PB, but not WP, so I am unable to determine the number of those scoring events. But as I recall, I had previously found such stats, and rated high-level conference teams in NCAA between the level of AA and AAA.
The WB/PB metric looks at the quality of play of the pitcher and catcher and not necessarily the entire team. Interesting angle.
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