For those of you that have kept up with our stats in seasons past, things will be a little different this season. High batting averages will be a harder thing to come by. In years past tees and pitching machines were a nice set up for our hitters. This year all of that changes. Just bear in mind a .300 batting average will get you paid millions in the big leagues.
Baseball Termonology
At Bat- Any plate appearance where the batter hits the ball into fair territory. Walks and hit by a pitch do not count as at bats.
Error- When a ball is hit in such a way that the out should be made, but the fielder makes a mistake allowing the batter to reach first.
Fielder's choice- When a batter hits the ball in such a way it causes an existing base runner to be forced out on base. Example is when a batter hits to the shortstop and a runner from first is put out at second allowing the batter to take first base. The fielder chose to make the out at second when he could have thrown out the batter at first. That doesn't count as a hit even though the batter reached first because he caused an out.
Plate Appearance- Any time a player goes to bat.
What the stats are;
Batting Average- The number of times a batter reaches base by a base hit. An average of 1.000 means the batter succesfully hit 1 time for every 1 at bat. So an average of .300 means a batter reached 3 out of 10 at bats. Walks and hit by a pitch do not count as an at bat so they do not figure into the average. Errors and fielder's choice do not count as base hits so they count against a hitters average.
On Base Percentage- The number of times a batter reaches base. Again, 1.000 means the batter reached every time he made a plate appearance.
Slugging Percentage- The number of bases a batter averages per at bat. 1.000 means the batter averages a single every at bat. 3.000 means he averages a triple every at bat.
Earned Run Average- The number of runs a pitcher allows per 6 innings pitched. It is per 9 innings pitched in the majors because they play 9 innings per game and we play 6.
How stats are calculated;
Batting Average- Divide number of Hits by At Bats.
On Base Percentage-Divide total number of times player reached base by total Plate Appearances.
Slugging Percentage- Divide total number of bases passed following hits by At Bats.
Note-Walks and Hit by a Pitch don't count as an At Bat, but they do count toward On Base Percentage. Also, if a player reaches base on an Error or Fielders Choice then that doesn't count as a hit even though they reached base.
Earned Run Average- Multiply Earned Runs by 6(number of innings in a complete game), then divide by number of Innings Pitched. |
