At BatsAB

AB stands for at bats in baseball. A plate appearance that ended in a hit or an out. Walks, hit-by-pitches, sacrifice flies and sacrifice bunts are plate appearances but not at-bats, which is why a batter can come up five times and be credited with three at-bats.

How AB is calculated

AB = plate appearances − walks − hit by pitch − sacrifices − catcher’s interference

Batting average divides hits by at-bats, so every walk a hitter draws leaves his average untouched. On-base percentage uses plate appearances instead, and that is the whole difference between the two numbers.

What counts as a good AB?

Half of the 431 qualified MLB players in 2026 were at or below 328. Clearing 558 put a season in the top tenth of the league.

Median: 328
Top 10%: 558
Leader: 618

By position, the median was 444 for 1B, 376 for SS, 356.5 for LF, 351 for 2B, 330 for CF and 312.5 for 3B.

Qualified: 40+ games, non-zero, 2026 regular season.