Batting Average Calculator

The batting average is one of the oldest and most well-known statistics in sports. It originated from cricket and was later adopted by baseball and softball. In each discipline it serves the same function: to convert the number of hits a player has made over a season into a value that can be used to compare players against each other.

This calculator supports both baseball/softball and cricket. In baseball and softball it divides the number of hits by the number of at-bats. In cricket, it divides the runs scored by the number of batsmen dismissed. Additionally, it includes other modern hitting statistics such as on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS to help you analyze players like a scout would.

Baseball batting average calculation:

The formula for baseball and softball is simple enough: The number of hits is divided by the official at-bats.

The result is expressed to three decimal places with the decimal point omitted; a batting average of .300 would be read as "three hundred," meaning that 30% of official at-bats resulted in hits. For example, if there are 32 hits out of 127 official at-bats, then the quotient of 32 divided by 127 is .252.

Enter two of the following values: number of hits, number of at bats or batting average and leave the third field blank. The calculator will calculate the missing value. In addition to calculating results from game logs, you can also work backwards to set goals. How many hits are needed to get a .300 batting average with 500 at bats? (150)

What counts as an attempt to strike?

A swing attempt is different from a plate appearance. Hits and outs (strikeouts, groundouts, flyouts, errors) are counted as swings but there are also results that do not count toward the number of swings. By excluding those results, an accurate batting average can be calculated.

Because walks (base on balls) and sacrifice hits are not included in the number of at-bats, two players with the same batting average can have different on-base percentages. The on-base percentage shows this difference exactly.

Is a batting average of .300 good?

In modern Major League Baseball, only about fifteen to twenty players will finish a full season with a batting average of .300 or higher. Thus, this mark has long been considered the benchmark for elite hitters. The league average varies from year to year but is between about .270 (roughly 2000) and about .248 (as of 2023), so these numbers are relative to today's era.

The Mendoza line is named after shortstop Mario Mendoza and serves as a demarcation point for when a player's batting average at a particular position falls below his potential. It is set at .200, while the .400 mark for an entire season has not been surpassed since Ted Williams' .406 (1941).

The same formula is used in softball.

The calculation for softball batting average is exactly the same as baseball: hits divided by at-bats. Because the average is higher, the benchmarks are also higher. In competitive softball, a .284 average in a league would be considered average and anything over .380 would be elite level. The slower game of softball has even higher averages. Calculate your batting average for softball mode and interpret it according to your league's range.

On-base percentage (OBP), slugging percentage (SLG), OPS

The batting average has two weaknesses: it ignores walks and treats singles the same as home runs. These deficiencies can be compensated for by three additional statistics, each of which is explained above.

The on-base percentage summarizes all types of walks.

The slugging percentage weights hits according to the number of bases gained, making it a measure of hitting power.

OPS is simply the sum of these two values and a single number that can quickly assess batting performance.

The combination of these four numbers is a batter's "slugging line". A hitter with an average batting average but many walks will often have a significantly higher OBP (on-base percentage) than his pure batting average indicates. Conversely, the value of a power hitter is more evident in his slugging average and OPS than it is in his pure batting average.

Cricket batting average calculation:

Cricket uses a completely different formula. Here average is not the frequency of hits but the average score per out.

If a player scores 15 runs in 10 innings and is out only once, his average will be 15.00 even if his highest score was a single without dismissal.

Because cricket and baseball use completely different scales for average values, they cannot be directly compared.

Sir Donald Bradman's Test match average of 99.94 is the most famous statistic in this sport; it is significantly higher than anyone else's and no one has come close to matching it.

Used symbols:

This tool is for learning and quick estimates. For official results you should refer to the detailed rules of each league regarding borderline cases like errors, fielder's choices and interference. Use these rules when recording official data.