1. What is Batting Average?

Batting average (BA) is a statistic in baseball that measures a batter's performance by calculating the ratio of hits to at bats. It is one of the oldest and most traditional metrics for evaluating hitters.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the batting average formula:

Where:

• \( H \) — Number of hits
• \( AB \) — Number of at bats

Explanation: The formula divides the number of hits by the number of official at bats, excluding walks, hit by pitch, sacrifices, and other plate appearances that don't count as at bats.

3. Importance of Batting Average

Details: While modern analytics have introduced more comprehensive metrics, batting average remains a fundamental statistic for evaluating a player's hitting ability and is part of baseball's "triple crown" categories.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter whole numbers for hits and at bats. At bats must be greater than 0, and hits cannot exceed at bats.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What is considered a good batting average?
A: .300 is traditionally considered excellent, .250 is average, and below .200 is poor in Major League Baseball.

Q2: Why isn't batting average the best metric?
A: It doesn't account for walks, power (extra base hits), or situational hitting. Metrics like OBP and OPS are more comprehensive.

Q3: What's the highest possible batting average?
A: The theoretical maximum is 1.000 (a hit every at bat), though no player has maintained this over a full season.

Q4: How is batting average displayed?
A: It's typically shown as a decimal rounded to three places (e.g., .325) without the leading zero.

Q5: What's the difference between BA and OBP?
A: On-base percentage (OBP) includes walks and hit by pitch, while batting average only counts hits divided by at bats.