We are continuing our introduction to the stat “Clutch” this week by combining what we’ve learned the last two weeks with Leverage Index (LI) and Win Probability Added (WPA) and learning about WPA/LI.

LI looks at the swing in the possible change in win probability while WPA looks at how an individual player affects the Win Expectancy (WE) of his team on a per-play basis

To refresh your memory, the formula for Clutch is:

Clutch = (WPA / pLI) - WPA/LI

What WPA/LI does is allow us to evaluate players on a similar plain as each batter will have a different Leverage Index for the situations in which they come to bat and allows us to better understand a player’s contribution to a win.

According to FanGraphs:

“With this in mind, if we divide WPA by LI, we see how much value a player provided regardless of the leverage. This number is called Context Neutral Wins (WPA/LI) because it neutralizes leverage while still measuring wins added (remember: 1 WPA = 100% win expectancy).  Again, WPA/LI measures how much value a player added to their team regardless of the leverage. Because of this, it is more a measure of a player’s talent level than WPA. ”

When looking at a player’s WPA/LI, FanGraphs provides a table to properly evaluate their contributions:

Thursday we’ll look at the player’s with the highest WPA/LI this past season.