Baseball Batting Average (BA or AVG)
If you asked a baseball fan what the most important or prominent statistic in the sport was, most likely, their automatic answer would be “batting average.” Whether batting average (abbreviated BA or AVG) is truly the most important stat in baseball or not, it is certainly the most recognizable. So what exactly is batting average? Read on to find out.
Batting Average (BA or AVG)
Batting average (abbreviated as BA or AVG) is the measurement of how many times, on average, a player gets a hit every time he is at bat. Batting average is one of the most standard and commonly used statistics to measure a batter's offensive performance.
Batting Average Formula
Batting average is calculated by dividing a player's hits by their at-bats, with the following formula:
Hits/At-Bats = AVG
Batting average is always expressed as a decimal to the thousandth place. A typical batting average is around .260, and what would typically be considered a great batting average is .300 or over.
Example
For example, if a player has a total of 2,192 hits across 7,349 at-bats, in order to calculate their batting average, we must perform the equation 2,192/7,349. This equates to a decimal number of 0.29827. To get the batting average from this, we must round the decimal to the third place, rounding down after the number 8 (due to the following number being less than five) and resulting in a batting average of .298.
FAQ
What is BA or AVG in baseball?
In baseball, BA or AVG is a statistic that represents a hitter’s batting average. This classic stat represents how often a player gets a hit when they are at bat.
How is AVG calculated in baseball?
In baseball, BA or AVG is calculated by dividing a player’s number of hits by their total at bats. Only hits are counted in batting average, and walks and hit-by-pitches are not included. Unlike more advanced offensive stats, BA or AVG weighs singles and extra-base hits equally.
Why is BA useful in baseball?
In baseball, batting average is useful for evaluating a hitter’s ability to get a hit during an at bat. Batting average is one of the oldest baseball statistics, and it remains one of the most popular ways to evaluate a player’s ability as a batter.