Baseball Batting Average on Balls in Play (BABIP)
Batting average is one of the most basic and important statistics in baseball, which makes sense since successfully hitting balls is the core of any team’s offense. However, there are advanced versions of this statistic that provide more specific contexts for a batter’s abilities. Read on to learn about batting average on balls in play.
Batting Average on Balls in Play (BABIP)
Batting Average on Balls in Play (BABIP) is an advanced version of batting average that only takes into account at bats in which the batter hit the ball in play. This statistic is meant to measure how often a batter hits a ball into play while removing outcomes that are not affected by the defense. This also helps to deduce just how often batters are hitting the ball hard and subsequently getting base hits.
BABIP Formula
The formula for Batting Average on Balls in Play is:
(Hits - Home Runs) / (At Bat - Strikes - Home Runs + Sacrifice Flies) = BABIP
Example
If a player goes 2-for-5 (two hits in five times at bat) and has both one home run and one strikeout, then their BABIP is .333. This is because (2 - 1) / (5 - 1 - 1 + 0) = 1 / 3, and 1 / 3 = .333 BABIP. This means that the batter is 1-for-3 on how many balls they put into play.
FAQ
What is BABIP in baseball?
Batting Average on Balls in Play is an advanced version of the batting average statistic that exclusively includes times the batter hit the ball into the field of play. This advanced statistic helps provide context for how well batters can get balls into play and how effective pitchers are at stopping batters from getting balls into the field of play. It is commonly referred to by the abbreviation BABIP.