Plate appearance vs. at-bat

Every time a batter finishes a turn at the plate, that is a plate appearance. Most of them are also at-bats. The exceptions are the turns where the batter did not get a fair chance to hit or gave up the at-bat for the team: a walk, a hit by pitch, a sacrifice bunt, a sacrifice fly, and reaching on catcher's interference.

The difference is why two stats can disagree. Batting average is hits divided by at-bats, so a walk does not move it. On-base percentage counts walks and hit by pitch as times on base and divides by most plate appearances (at-bats, walks, hit by pitch and sacrifice flies), so the patient hitter who draws walks shows up there.

A turn that does not finish is not a plate appearance at all. If the third out is a runner caught stealing while the batter is up, that batter leads off the next inning with a fresh count, and the first try is not counted.

For a youth coach, plate appearances are also the fair way to count playing time. Leagues with continuous batting orders or minimum play rules count turns at the plate, not at-bats, and a lineup card that tracks them makes it easy to show every player got their turns.

Examples

• A single, a groundout and a walk: 3 PA, 2 AB, 1 hit, .500 average.
• A sacrifice bunt that moves the runner to second: 1 PA, 0 AB.
• A sacrifice fly that scores a run: 1 PA, 0 AB, and it does count in OBP.
• A batter reaches on an error: 1 PA, 1 AB, no hit.

Put it on a card: Lineup cards.

Frequently Asked Questions

More in the glossary

• Sacrifice fly
• Fielder's choice
• Left on base (LOB)
• All glossary pages