Fantasy glossary
A comprehensive user's guide to the game within the game
Ever stumble across a fantasy term and wonder, what on earth does that mean? You're not alone. Plenty of fans struggle understanding the lexicon.
Below is a fantasy glossary to guide you through the uncertainty.
4x4: A rotisserie format consisting of four hitting categories (batting average, home runs, RBIs, stolen bases) and four pitching categories (wins, ERA, WHIP, saves).
5x5: A rotisserie format consisting of five hitting categories (runs, batting average, home runs, RBIs, stolen bases) and five pitching categories (wins, ERA, strikeouts, WHIP, saves).
AL-only league: A format in which owners exclusively use players from American League teams.
Auction draft: A draft in which owners compete for players by submitting monetary bids. Standard budget for a team of 23 roster spots is $260.
BABIP: Batting average on balls in play: A statistic which removes home runs, strikeouts and sacrifice flies to measure the percentage of at-bats that result in a hit for a player. Typically used to determine how "lucky" a player has been.
Breakout player: A player who takes a considerable leap in statistical production.
Buy low: To acquire a player whose value has dropped.
Contact rate: A statistic which determines how often a hitter makes contact, measured by at-bats minus strikeouts, divided by at-bats.
Counting stats: Statistics measured by total accumulation as opposed to percentages. Examples of counting stats include home runs, RBIs for hitters, and wins and strikeouts for pitchers.
Dollar value: A player's auction-draft price based on a standard $260 budget for a 23-man team.
Dynasty league: A format in which owners retain their entire team from the previous season.
FAAB: Free-agent auction bucks: The amount of money available for owners to commit to free-agent pickups in auction leagues. Standard allocation is $100 per team for a season.
Five-category player: A hitter who excels in fantasy's five major offensive categories: batting average, home runs, RBIs, stolen bases and runs.
Fly-ball pitcher: A pitcher who consistently allows more fly balls than ground balls. Can be susceptible to the home run.
GB/FB ratio: Ground-ball-to-fly-ball ratio.
Ground-ball pitcher: A pitcher who consistently induces more outs on the ground than in the air. A high ratio is considered to be a good indicator for success.
H2H: Head-to-head play: A format in which fantasy teams compete against one another on a rotating weekly basis.
Hold: A statistic credited to a reliever who enters a game in a save situation, records at least one out and leaves with his team's lead intact.
IR: Injured reserve: An area for owners to store players on the disabled list.
K/9: Strikeouts per nine innings: A ratio which helps determine a pitcher's dominance.
K/BB ratio: Strikeout-to-walk ratio: A measurement which helps determine the strength of a pitcher's command.
Keeper league: A format in which owners are allowed to retain a set number of players from the previous season.
Mixed league: A format in which owners use players from both American and National League teams.
NL-only league: A format in which owners exclusively use players from National League teams.
OPS: On-base percentage plus slugging percentage: A statistic considered by many to be the best for analyzing and comparing hitters.
Points league: A format in which all statistics have associated point values, such as a point awarded to pitchers for every strikeout.
Position eligibility: The positions at which a player qualifies. Typically, a player has to appear in at least 10 games at a specific position to qualify there the following season.
Position scarcity: The relative lack of talent at a position, such as catcher, second base and shortstop. Typically inflates the value of the best players at that position.
Punting: The act of giving up on one category in 5x5 play to focus on improving one's chances in the other four categories.
Quality start: An outing in which a starting pitcher throws at least six innings and allows three earned runs or fewer.
Rotisserie: A format in which teams are ranked by the accumulation of statistics throughout a season.
Sabermetrics: The use of advanced statistics, such as runs created and win shares, to find objective answers to baseball's questions. Originally developed by Bill James.
Sell high: The process of trading a player at his peak value.
Sleeper: A player drafted in the middle to late rounds who has the potential to exceed expectations.
Slugging percentage: A statistic in which total bases are divided by at-bats. Determines a player's ability to hit for power.
Snake draft: A draft in which the order of selection reverses with each subsequent round -- i.e., the owner who makes the last pick in the first round gets the first pick of the second round.
Splits: Statistics broken down into more specific groups, such as home vs. road and day vs. night.
Spot starter: Starter who's not necessarily worth a full-time roster spot but deserves a temporary pickup/onetime play by virtue of a favorable matchup.
Strand rate: For pitchers, the percentage of baserunners who reach base safely (excluding home runs) that do not go on to score earned runs. This is also known as "left-on-base percentage" or LOBP. Developed by Ron Shandler.
Streaming: The process of substituting players in and out of the lineup to take advantage of matchups and pad statistical totals.
Tout Wars: A fantasy league consisting of teams managed by several of the industry's experts.
Two-start pitcher: A pitcher scheduled for two starts in one week. Potential positives include extra contributions in wins and strikeouts.
Value pick: A player who has the potential to exceed his draft-day value.
VORP: Value over replacement player: A statistic that measures the number of runs a player contributes beyond the total of a replacement-level player at the same position. Originally developed by Baseball Prospectus.
Waiver priority: The order in which teams have the right to claim a particular player off waivers.
Waiver wire: The collection of players who are not on a roster and are thus available to be claimed in a league.
WHIP: Walks plus hits divided by innings pitched.
Think we left anything out? E-mail MLB.com Fantasy Editors with your proposed additions. This content was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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