on-base percentage

noun

on-base per·​cent·​age ˈȯn-ˈbās-pər-ˈsen-tij 

baseball

: a statistic that is expressed as a 3-digit decimal and that indicates the frequency with which a batter reaches base by a hit, a walk, or being hit by a pitch

Note: A batter with an on-base percentage of .350 has reached base 3.5 times for every 10 at bats.

Through Sunday he led the league in on-base percentage (.479) and hits (40) and was second in runs scored (21) and ninth in slugging percentage (.515).

—Ivan Maisel

… he understood that on-base percentage was a far better tool to evaluate a hitter than batting average …

—Tom Verducci

Examples of on-base percentage in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Of the nine regulars in the Dodgers’ lineup, however, the only one with a lower on-base percentage than Ohtani is Max Muncy. —Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2024

Ohtani also finished first in the Senior Circuit with 134 runs scored, 411 total bases, a .390 on-base percentage, .646 slugging average, and 1.036 OPS (on-base plus slugging). —Dan Schlossberg, Forbes, 7 Oct. 2024

The White Sox are ranked near the bottom in many major statistical categories, and entered Tuesday last in the MLB in hits, runs, home runs, batting average, runs batted in, total bases, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. —Rohan Nadkarni, NBC News, 28 Sep. 2024

At the start of play Saturday Judge was leading the league in home runs (58), RBI (144), bases on balls (133), on-base percentage (.461), slugging percentage (.708), OPS (1.169), OPS+ (226), and total bases (392). —Jim Ingraham, Forbes, 28 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1949, in the meaning defined above