1. What is Batting Average?

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

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the simple formula:

Where:

• Hits — Number of times the batter reaches base safely
• At bats — Number of official batting appearances (excluding walks, sacrifices, etc.)

Explanation: The result is typically rounded to three decimal places and expressed without the leading zero (e.g., .300).

3. Importance of Batting Average

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

4. Using the Calculator

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

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What is considered a good batting average?
A: In modern MLB, .300+ is excellent, .270-.299 is good, .240-.269 is average, and below .240 is poor.

Q2: How is batting average different from on-base percentage?
A: Batting average only counts hits per at bats, while OBP includes walks and hit-by-pitches in its calculation.

Q3: Why is batting average expressed with three decimals?
A: The three decimal format (e.g., .250) became standard to allow precise comparisons between players.

Q4: What's the highest possible batting average?
A: The theoretical maximum is 1.000 (a hit every at bat), though this is extremely rare over any significant number of at bats.

Q5: Does batting average account for power hitting?
A: No, batting average treats singles and home runs equally. Slugging percentage measures power hitting.