Impact Player pitcher ratings How Impact Player index is calculated Barry Bonds finished the year with a flurry to set the season home run record. For his record-breaking season, the San Francisco Giants slugger batted. Bonds also had 137 RBI and scored 129 runs. For Player of the Year honors, Bonds beat out Chicago Cubs right fielder Sammy Sosa, largely because opposing pitchers were so worried about pitching to Bonds, who walked a record 177 times.
Total bases is the most heavily weighted category in the index.
Bonds had 69 home runs when the Giants headed to Houston last week for a three-game series in which the Astros continually pitched around Bonds. But in his final at-bat of that series, he homered to tie McGwire's mark. How the Impact Player Index is computed Total bases, earned run averages, innings pitched and hits given up are all part of tracking players. First, separate indexes are created for starting pitchers, relief pitchers and hitters. The final number, a standardized score, is comparable because the scores for each category are based on how far they are from the average.