It should be stressed though that in the calculation of any PA outcome, when we say normalized, it does NOT mean the # stat is being used.  I think it's a very common misconception that the # stats are somehow vitally important in the determination of what happens in a PA, or that they are the actual stat being used to determine a player's performance.  They are not.

Posted by skunk206 on 9/8/2015 12:33:00 PM (view original):
It should be stressed though that in the calculation of any PA outcome, when we say normalized, it does NOT mean the # stat is being used.  I think it's a very common misconception that the # stats are somehow vitally important in the determination of what happens in a PA, or that they are the actual stat being used to determine a player's performance.  They are not.

# stats allow you to compare players (and should be looked at when you draft players).  Over the long term, a batter with a .300# batting average will have a higher batting average (all other things equal) than a batter with a .275# batting average.

I never said the # stats have no use, only that they aren't used in the actual determination of what happens in any given PA.  I did address their usefulness in my other post in this thread...

"They're (# stats) a guide only, to show how a player's performance may be influenced in the long term by facing a fairly evenly distributed sample of opposing players from 1885-2014. But as we all know, opposition is never evenly distributed across the historical spectrum."  

A guide is the best way to think of them. If you are making a choice between two players and one has a better ERC# and the other has stats that better suit your home park / defense, go with the latter.