at bat

noun

plural at bats

baseball

: a turn at batting

had three hits in five at bats

Note: For the purposes of calculating a player's batting average and slugging percentage, an official at bat is charged for each turn at batting except when the player walks, hits a sacrifice bunt or sacrifice fly, is hit by a pitched ball, or is interfered with by the catcher.

Examples of at bat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Ultimately, the inaugural Fanatics Fest will be the first at bat at what the company expects to be a long game. —

Alex Weprin, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Apr. 2024 Jim Sergent Fifty years ago today, Hank Aaron sent the second pitch of his second at bat over Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium's left-centerfield wall and became MLB's new home run king with the 715th of his career. —

USA TODAY, 8 Apr. 2024 Prior to extra innings, Rowdy Tellez hit a three-run home run to straightaway center against reliever Vladimir Gutierrez to cap a nine-pitch at bat with two outs in the seventh inning to put Pittsburgh up 7-6. —

Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 31 Mar. 2024 In 86 at bats, Perez racked up 29 hits, 19 runs and 20 RBIs. —

Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 Feb. 2024 Boston leadoff hitter Jarren Duran led off the first inning with a first-pitch single, stole second and scored on a Justin Turner single two at bats later to make it 1-0. —

Shawn McFarland, Dallas News, 6 July 2023 Two at bats later, Lane Thomas hit a first-pitch slider for a single, stole second and scored after Meneses turned on a middle-middle fastball for a double. —

Shawn McFarland, Dallas News, 9 July 2023 During his first at bat of the game, the right-fielder memorably hit a game-winning walk-off two-run homer against the A's closing pitcher. —

Ashlyn Messier, Fox News, 23 Oct. 2023 Langford had just four at bats as a freshman in Gainesville. —

Shawn McFarland, Dallas News, 18 July 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'at bat.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.