Adjusted ERA: ERA+ Vs. ERA-

ERA+

Adjusted ERA is often abbreviated to ERA+ (ERA Plus)

Useful for multiple reasons, including how easy it is to apply.

A metric developed by Baseball Reference that is calculated, as follows:

League Average ERA+ is set to 100 and anything above or below that suggests a pitcher is better or worse than MLB Average, respectively.

ERA-

FanGraphs also uses a similar metric they’ve developed, known as ERA- (or ERA Minus). Check out their summary of the metric:

While ERA+ & ERA- are calculated differently, they answer the same question:

“How good is a pitcher at preventing runs when we account for park & league effects?”

In 2019, Josh Hader had an ERA+ of 170 & an ERA- of 59.
Click on the photo to read our complete breakdown of Hader’s greatness!

MAJOR DIFFERENCE

ERA+: The better the pitcher is at preventing runs, the HIGHER this number goes

ERA-: The better the pitcher is at preventing runs, the LOWER this number goes (thus, it can be assessed similarly to a traditional ERA i.e. the lower, the better).

***In both cases, MLB Average is set to 100.

If you would prefer to stick to TRADITIONAL ERA, the full summary for that is HERE!!