Baseball Glossary › OPS Plus
OPS Plus (OPS+)
OPS+ (OPS Plus) takes a hitter's on-base plus slugging and adjusts it for his ballpark and the league's scoring level, then scales it so 100 is exactly league average. A 120 OPS+ is 20 percent better than average and an 80 is 20 percent worse, which makes hitters from different eras comparable.
Formula
Worked example (illustrative numbers, before any park adjustment): a hitter has a .360 OBP and a .500 SLG in a league with a .320 OBP and a .400 SLG.
.360 / .320 = 1.125 and .500 / .400 = 1.250
OPS+ = 100 x (1.125 + 1.250 - 1) = 137.5, about 138
What to Know
Raw OPS cannot tell you whether a hitter benefited from a small ballpark or a high-scoring season. OPS+ normalizes for those factors, so 100 always means league average.
OPS+ vs wRC+: wRC+ uses the same 100-is-average scale but weights each offensive outcome by its actual run value instead of simply adding OBP and SLG. MLB notes that a hitter's wRC+ and OPS+ for a season usually look very similar. FanGraphs recommends wRC+ when you have the choice.
Because both are rate stats, OPS+ also pairs well with WAR, which adds defense, baserunning and playing time on top of offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is OPS+ in baseball?
OPS+ is on-base plus slugging adjusted for ballpark and league, then scaled so 100 is league average. It tells you how much better or worse than average a hitter was, in percentage terms.
How is OPS+ calculated?
The MLB formula is 100 x (OBP divided by league OBP, plus SLG divided by league SLG, minus 1), with a ballpark adjustment applied. A .360 OBP and .500 SLG in a .320/.400 league works out to about 138 before park effects.
What is a good OPS+?
League average is always 100. Each point above or below is a percentage point above or below average, so 120 is 20 percent better than average and 150 is 50 percent better.
What is the difference between OPS and OPS+?
OPS is the raw sum of on-base percentage and slugging percentage. OPS+ adjusts that number for ballpark and league scoring, then rescales it so 100 is average, which lets you compare players across seasons and parks.
What is the difference between OPS+ and wRC+?
Both use a scale where 100 is league average and both adjust for park and league. wRC+ weights each outcome, such as a walk or a double, by its run value, while OPS+ is built from OBP and SLG. They usually land close together.
Where can I find a player's OPS+?
OPS+ is published on Baseball-Reference, as FanGraphs notes in its library. FanGraphs itself features wRC+, the similar park- and league-adjusted stat.
Related Terms
Sources
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