AB · At-bats
What does AB mean in softball?
AB stands for at-bats. It counts a hitter's official trips to the plate, leaving out walks, hit-by-pitches, sacrifice bunts, sacrifice flies, and catcher's interference.
How to calculate AB
AB = plate appearances − walks − HBP − sacrifices − interference
A hitter who comes up 5 times and walks once and has a sacrifice bunt once is credited with 3 at-bats.
What's a good AB?
AB is a counting stat, not a quality stat — more at-bats simply means more playing time.
Good to know
- At-bats are the bottom half of batting average and slugging percentage, which is why walks and sacrifices don't hurt a hitter's average.
- Plate appearances (PA) count every trip to the plate; at-bats are the subset that count toward average.