AB/RBI - At-Bats per Runs Batted In. AO - Fly Outs. AVG - Batting Average. BB - Bases on Balls (Walks) CS - Caught Stealing.
In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter’s turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance.
300 or higher is considered to be excellent, and an average higher than . 400 a nearly unachievable goal. The last Major League Baseball (MLB) player to do so, with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting championship, was Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox, who hit . 406 in 1941.
Definition. A single occurs when a batter hits the ball and reaches first base without the help of an intervening error or attempt to put out another baserunner. Singles are the most common type of hit in baseball, and they occur in many varieties. If a batter beats out a bunt or an infield dribbler – it’s a single.
SBA or ATT – Stolen base attempts: total number of times the player has attempted to steal a base (SB+CS) SB% – Stolen base percentage: the percentage of bases stolen successfully. (SB) divided by (SBA) (stolen bases attempted).
Base on balls (BB), strikes (K), and home runs (HR) These are all pretty self-explanatory stats. Walks, or base on balls (BB) indicates how many batters were walked by the pitcher. This total will included intentional walks (IBB). Strikes indicate the number of batters that a pitcher struck out in the game.
A Plate Appearance (PA) is counted when a player completes their batting turn, regardless of the result. An At-Bat (AB) is any Plate Appearance that results in a hit, error, fielder’s choice, or a non-sacrifice out. Any other result of a Plate Appearance does not count as an At-Bat.
On Base Percentage (aka OBP, On Base Average, OBA) is a measure of how often a batter reaches base. It is approximately equal to Times on Base/Plate appearances. The full formula is OBP = (Hits + Walks + Hit by Pitch) / (At Bats + Walks + Hit by Pitch + Sacrifice Flies).
QAB in baseball stands for a quality at-bat. A quality at-bat means you did something productive via a team goal during a game. Most of the time, a quality-at-bat doesn’t make the highlight reel of SportsCenter or the front page of a newspaper, but it can be a game-changer.
Definition. A fielder is credited with a putout when he is the fielder who physically records the act of completing an out – whether it be by stepping on the base for a forceout, tagging a runner, catching a batted ball, or catching a third strike.
A hold is an unofficial statistic that measures the effectiveness of middle relievers. A hold is granted to a relief pitcher who enters a game with his team in the lead in a save situation, and hands over that lead to another reliever without the score having been tied in the interim.
Definition. OPS adds on-base percentage and slugging percentage to get one number that unites the two. It’s meant to combine how well a hitter can reach base, with how well he can hit for average and for power.
Definition. Slugging percentage represents the total number of bases a player records per at-bat. Unlike on-base percentage, slugging percentage deals only with hits and does not include walks and hit-by-pitches in its equation. Slugging percentage differs from batting average in that all hits are not valued equally.
Definition. Often called “the most exciting play in baseball,” a triple occurs when a batter hits the ball into play and reaches third base without the help of an intervening error or attempt to put out another baserunner.
As a result, first base is not usually perceived to be as physically demanding as other positions. However, it can also be a very hard position to play; a large amount of concentration and timing is required.
Pitcher is the most difficult position to play in baseball.
Not only does the pitcher have the most important job on the field, which is to get batters out and prevent runs from scoring, but he also has to deal with the immense pressure that accompanies being on the mound.
The box score lists the line score as well as individual and team performance in the game. The statistics used are those recorded by the official scorer of each game. The following box score is of a notable game in baseball history, Game 6 of the 1991 World Series.
If the next batter hits a ball to the center fielder who catches it on the fly for the second out, it would be noted as F8, with F for flyout and 8 for the center fielder. (In some systems, the letter ‘F’ is reserved for foul outs.
If you see a player is 1 for 3 with a walk, that means the player has four total plate appearances in the game. The player has three at-bats and four plate appearances due to the fact that the walk counts as a plate appearance, but not an official at bat.
The Answer:
A simple way to compute a player’s batting average is to divide the player’s total hits (not the number of bases) by his/her total at bats. A walk does not count as an at bat or hit, and does not affect a player’s batting average.
A batter who reaches base safely as the result of a fielder’s choice is not credited with a hit; he is charged with an at bat.
On-Base Percentage (OBP) measures the most important thing a batter can do at the plate: not make an out. Since a team only gets 27 outs per game, making outs at a high rate isn’t a good thing — that is, if a team wants to win.
OPS+, adjusted OPS, is a closely related statistic. OPS+ is OPS adjusted for the park and the league in which the player played, but not for fielding position. An OPS+ of 100 is defined to be the league average. An OPS+ of 150 or more is excellent and 125 very good, while an OPS+ of 75 or below is poor.
On base percentage is typically judged about 60 points higher than batting average. A good average in baseball is . 300 in the MLB, so a good OBP in the MLB would be . 360.