Batting Average Calculator

Enter hits and at-bats below to get your batting average with a quality rating. Expand the OBP section to factor in walks, hit-by-pitches, and sacrifice flies for a more complete picture of plate performance.

Batting average equals hits divided by at-bats. In formula form: BA = Hits / At-Bats. The result is displayed as a three-place decimal (for example, .280 means 280 hits per 1,000 at-bats at that rate).

Step-by-Step Example

A player has 14 hits in 50 at-bats. Divide 14 by 50 and you get .280. That means the batter gets a hit in 28% of their official at-bats, which places them in the "Above Average" range according to MLB-era benchmarks.

What Counts as an At-Bat?

Not every plate appearance is an at-bat. The MLB official glossary(opens in new tab) excludes several outcomes from the at-bat total, which directly affects how batting average is calculated.

Because walks and sacrifices are excluded, two batters with the same batting average can reach base at very different rates. That gap is exactly what on-base percentage (covered below in the OBP section) is designed to capture.

Yes, .300 is very good. In modern MLB, only about 15 to 20 hitters finish a full season at .300 or above. Hitting .300 has historically been the marker of a high-quality hitter, often called the "benchmark of excellence." Here is a standard rating scale used across baseball analytics:

Batting Average Rating Scale (MLB Standard)

These benchmarks reflect the modern MLB environment (2020s). League-wide averages shift from year to year. In 2000, the MLB average was .270; by 2023, it had settled at .248(opens in new tab).

The Mendoza Line

The Mendoza Line (.200) is named after Mario Mendoza, a shortstop who consistently hit near that mark in the late 1970s. Falling below .200 is widely considered the threshold where a position player's bat becomes a significant liability, regardless of defensive ability. The term entered baseball vocabulary through broadcasters and has stuck for nearly fifty years.

Common Batting Average Questions

• Is .700 a good batting average? A .700 average is not realistic over a full season. The highest single-season MLB batting average is .440 (Hugh Duffy, 1894)(opens in new tab). A .700 mark might appear in very small sample sizes, like the first week of a season with only 10 at-bats.
• What does a .300 batting average mean? It means the batter gets a hit in 30% of their official at-bats. Over a typical 600 at-bat MLB season, that translates to 180 hits.
• What is your batting average if you get 14 hits in 50 at-bats? Divide 14 by 50 to get .280. That's in the "Great" range at the MLB level.

The batting average formula is identical in softball: Hits / At-Bats. The calculator above works for both sports. What changes between baseball and softball is how you interpret the number, because the two sports produce different offensive environments.

Softball Batting Average Benchmarks

Softball batting averages tend to run higher than baseball at the same competitive level. The 43-foot pitching distance (vs. 60.5 feet in baseball) compresses reaction time, but the underhand delivery and ball size create a different hitting dynamic that often favors contact hitters.

Cricket Batting Average

Cricket uses a different formula entirely: Runs Scored / Times Dismissed. A cricket batting average of 50 is considered world-class in Test cricket. Because the formula and scale are different, you cannot compare cricket averages directly to baseball or softball averages. The calculator above uses the baseball/softball formula (Hits / At-Bats).

Batting averages vary widely depending on the level of play. Younger leagues feature more batting average variance because of wider talent gaps between pitchers and hitters, while professional leagues compress toward tighter distributions. Use these benchmarks when evaluating players at each level:

A .350 average in high school ball does not mean the same thing as a .350 in college. The pitching quality, field dimensions, and bat regulations all shift the offensive environment. When tracking a player across levels (travel ball to high school to college), expect the batting average to drop even if the player's actual hitting ability has improved.

On-Base Percentage measures how often a batter reaches base by any method, not just hits. The formula: OBP = (Hits + Walks + HBP) / (At-Bats + Walks + HBP + Sacrifice Flies). The calculator at the top of this page includes a collapsible OBP section where you can enter walks, hit-by-pitches, and sacrifice flies alongside your hit and at-bat totals.

Why OBP Matters More Than BA Alone

Batting average ignores walks completely. A player who draws 80 walks in a season contributes significantly more offense than their batting average shows. FanGraphs considers OBP the better indicator(opens in new tab) of offensive value because getting on base by any means creates scoring opportunities.

OBP Rating Scale (MLB Standard)

Example: BA vs. OBP Gap

Player A: 150 hits in 550 at-bats (.273 BA), 60 walks, 5 HBP, 4 SF. OBP = (150+60+5) / (550+60+5+4) = .347. Player B: 160 hits in 550 at-bats (.291 BA), 25 walks, 2 HBP, 3 SF. OBP = (160+25+2) / (550+25+2+3) = .322. Player A has a lower batting average but reaches base more often because of plate discipline.

Batting average is one piece of the offensive picture. Modern baseball evaluation combines it with OBP, SLG, and OPS to get a fuller read on a hitter's production. Here is how they compare:

For youth and high school coaches who want one number beyond batting average, OBP is the natural next step. It rewards plate discipline, which is the skill most young hitters need to develop. SLG and OPS become more meaningful at the college and professional level where power production is a differentiator.

Batting average captures game results, but it does not explain why a hitter is performing at that level. A player hitting .250 with hard line drives is in a different spot than one hitting .250 on soft ground balls. Pitch recognition, swing mechanics, and approach consistency all feed into the batting average column without showing up in the number itself.

For coaches tracking development over a season, pairing game stats with practice evaluations reveals the patterns behind the numbers. If a player's batting average drops against off-speed pitching, that is a recognition issue you can work on in practice. If their average spikes during stretches with more rest days, that is a conditioning signal.

With a tool like Striveon, you can log hitting assessments after each practice and compare them against game results over the course of a season. Explore how Striveon's evaluation tools track hitter development over time.

For more on tracking baseball stats during games, see our baseball scorecard guide, which covers scoring notation, stat formulas, and free printable templates. You can also check the ERA calculator if you track pitching stats alongside batting numbers.