San Diego Padres pitcher Blake Snell is one of the more unique personalities in baseball, which always makes for a fun interview during games.
On Tuesday, the Padres got Snell to join the Bally Sports broadcast from the dugout in the third inning. And the free-flowing conversation included a real-time quiz about advanced metrics.
Basically, Snell noticed that the Petco Park videoboard displayed “wRC+” and he genuinely didn’t know what it was. So, he asked play-by-play announcer Don Orsillo if he knew. Orsillo did not know either, and they somewhat tried to figure out the statistic as the Nelson Cruz at-bat went on.
Blake Snell on wRC+ 😂 pic.twitter.com/jVOHQ19qpt
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 3, 2023
The stat actually means weighted runs created plus, which is the runs created statistic that also takes into account factors like ballpark. Via MLB.com:
It’s adjusted, so a wRC+ of 100 is league average and 150 would be 50 percent above league average. For example, a player who plays his home games at hitter-friendly Coors Field will have a lower wRC+ than a player who posts identical stats at pitcher-friendly Oakland Coliseum.
While fans thought it was surprising that Snell didn’t know about wRC+, many thought the Padres broadcast should have had some knowledge of the stat. Either way, it made for a fun exchange.