I don't know how many of the readers here at DOV would be up for a little light technical reading on a new sabermetric tool I am finally 100% comfortable advertising, but on the off chance that a few of you have time and energy to spare to read the white paper on a new context-analysis tool called the Fiato/Souders Matrix, I've made it available at the following URL:

http://sabermetriclab.com/fsia.pdf

Quick verbal summary of what the F/S Matrix produces in terms of results:

  • It tells us how each team would perform if their schedule strength was league average
  • It tells us how an average team would play if they had the specific schedule of any real team
  • It gives us more reliable and more consistent (year to year) park factors for runs and for HR
  • It makes it much easier to compare teams across eras using logically "more correct" methods to correct for varying contexts
  • It makes an important strength of schedule adjustment to the statistical analysis of starting pitchers

The central working formula within the matrix is quite simple:

In any game, each team's runs scored are equal to:

  • League average run scoring rate +
  • Park factor +
  • Strength of opposing team defense +
  • Strength of opposing starting pitcher (relative to his team's defense) +
  • Stength of theteam offense

Feel free to read the full explanation if you are curious as to how the matrix works in more detail.