1. What Is Slugging Percentage?

Slugging percentage (SLG) is a baseball statistic that measures the power of a hitter by calculating total bases per at bat. Unlike batting average, it gives more weight to extra-base hits.

2. How Is Slugging Percentage Calculated?

The formula for slugging percentage is:

Where:

• 1B — Singles (count)
• 2B — Doubles (count)
• 3B — Triples (count)
• HR — Home runs (count)
• AB — At bats (count)

Explanation: Each type of hit is weighted by the number of bases achieved. Walks and hit-by-pitches are not included in the calculation.

3. Importance of Slugging Percentage

Details: SLG is a key metric for evaluating a player's power hitting ability. It's often used with on-base percentage to calculate OPS (On-base Plus Slugging), a comprehensive offensive performance metric.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter counts for each type of hit and total at bats. All values must be non-negative integers, and at bats must be greater than zero.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What's a good slugging percentage?
A: In MLB, .450 is considered good, .550 is excellent, and .400 is about average. The all-time record is .689 by Babe Ruth in 1920.

Q2: How does SLG differ from batting average?
A: Batting average counts all hits equally, while SLG weights hits by bases gained. A single and home run both count as 1 hit for BA, but 1 vs 4 bases for SLG.

Q3: Can SLG be higher than 1.000?
A: No, the theoretical maximum is 4.000 (all at bats are home runs), but in practice even the best seasons rarely exceed .800.

Q4: What's not included in SLG?
A: Walks, hit-by-pitches, sacrifices, and reaching on errors don't count. Only official at bats with hits are included.

Q5: Why is SLG important?
A: It correlates strongly with run production. Teams with higher SLG typically score more runs and win more games.