Three up, three down: Using xwOBA to assess six Yankees hitters

Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty ImagesLongtime readers know that one of my favorite stats by which to judge and assess player performance is xwOBA, or expected weighted on-base average. wOBA alone considers the actual outcome of a play, such as single, double, triple or home run, and it weights each of them in proportion to their run value. We can’t value a home run the same way as we do with a single, of course.

However, xwOBA tries to eliminate factors such as defense and ballpark, instead focusing on exit velocity and launch angle, adding walks and strikeouts, too. To wOBA, a sharply-hit rocket to center field for a single is the same as a chopper that found its way to left field through…