Slugging percentage

In <a href="/facts/Baseball_statistics/jX18gq0B">baseball statistics</a>, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a <a href="/facts/Batting_(baseball)/UNp96n1L">hitter</a>. It is calculated as <a href="/facts/Total_bases/qPlpfNBY">total bases</a> divided by <a href="/facts/At_bat/jJfeG3o0">at-bats</a>, through the following formula, where AB is the number of at-bats for a given player, and 1B, 2B, 3B, and HR are the number of <a href="/facts/Single_(baseball)/FXgntVU0">singles</a>, <a href="/facts/Double_(baseball)/2qzxaDuM">doubles</a>, <a href="/facts/Triple_(baseball)/TfCyGABt">triples</a>, and <a href="/facts/Home_run/op1enhjP">home runs</a>, respectively:

 
 
 
 
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 {\displaystyle \mathrm {SLG} ={\frac {({\mathit {1B}})+(2\times {\mathit {2B}})+(3\times {\mathit {3B}})+(4\times {\mathit {HR}})}{AB}}}

Unlike <a href="/facts/Batting_average_(baseball)/4JzAEBIf">batting average</a>, slugging percentage gives more weight to <a href="/facts/Extra-base_hit/FDqwh94w">extra-base hits</a> such as doubles and home runs, relative to singles. Such batters are usually referred to as sluggers. <a href="/facts/Plate_appearance/JELIPqxj">Plate appearances</a> resulting in <a href="/facts/Base_on_balls/4wXWn8VN">walks</a>, <a href="/facts/Hit_by_pitch/QLG3VAtG">hit-by-pitches</a>, <a href="/facts/Catcher%27s_interference/LEauCmfQ">catcher's interference</a>, and <a href="/facts/Sacrifice_bunt/VXlhYWbm">sacrifice bunts</a> or <a href="/facts/Sacrifice_fly/gFSTfprG">flies</a> are specifically excluded from this calculation, as such an appearance is not counted as an <a href="/facts/At_bat/jJfeG3o0">at-bat</a> (these are not factored into batting average either).
The name is a <a href="/facts/Misnomer/P4TnsX3H">misnomer</a>, as the statistic is not a <a href="/facts/Percentage/Wugt2XEf">percentage</a> but an average of how many bases a player achieves per at bat. It is a scale of <a href="/facts/Measure_(mathematics)/yCq7zlI4">measure</a> whose computed value is a number from 0 to 4. This might not be readily apparent: a Major League Baseball player's slugging percentage is almost always less than 1 because a majority of at bats result in either 0 or 1 base. The stat awards a double twice the value of a single, a triple three times the value, and a home run four times. The slugging percentage would have to be divided by 4 to actually be a percentage (of bases achieved per at bat out of total bases possible). As a result, it is occasionally called slugging average, or simply slugging, instead.
A slugging percentage is usually expressed as a <a href="/facts/Decimal/7omfVNIM">decimal</a> to three decimal places and is generally spoken as if multiplied by 1000. For example, a slugging percentage of .589 would be spoken as "five eighty-nine." The slugging percentage can also be applied as an evaluative tool for pitchers. This is not as common but is referred to as "slugging-percentage against".

Slugging percentage open-in-new

Slugging percentage