Editing Slugging percentage

{{Short description|Hitting statistic in baseball}}
[[File:Josh_Gibson_1931c.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Josh Gibson]] holds the highest career slugging percentage in [[Major League Baseball]] at .718.<ref>{{Cite web |title=All-Time MLB Player Hitting Stat Leaders |url=https://www.mlb.com/stats/slugging-percentage/all-time-totals |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=MLB.com |language=en}}</ref>]]In [[baseball statistics]], '''slugging percentage''' ('''SLG''') is a measure of the batting productivity of a [[batting (baseball)|hitter]]. It is calculated as [[total bases]] divided by [[at bat|at-bat]]s, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, and ''1B'', ''2B'', ''3B'', and ''HR'' are the number of [[single (baseball)|singles]], [[double (baseball)|doubles]], [[triple (baseball)|triples]], and [[home run]]s, respectively:

: <math> \mathrm{SLG} = \frac{(\mathit{1B}) + (2 \times \mathit{2B}) + (3 \times \mathit{3B}) + (4 \times \mathit{HR})}{AB}</math>

Unlike [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]], slugging percentage gives more weight to [[extra-base hit]]s such as doubles and home runs, relative to singles. Such batters are usually referred to as '''sluggers'''. [[Plate appearance]]s resulting in [[Base on balls|walks]], [[Hit by pitch|hit-by-pitches]], [[catcher's interference]], and [[sacrifice bunt]]s or [[sacrifice fly|flies]] are specifically excluded from this calculation, as such an appearance is not counted as an [[at bat|at-bat]] (these are not factored into batting average either).

The name is a [[misnomer]], as the statistic is not a [[percentage]] but an average of how many bases a player achieves per at bat. It is a scale of [[Measure (mathematics)|measure]] whose computed value is a number from 0 to 4. This might not be readily apparent: a Major League Baseball player's slugging percentage is almost always less than 1 because a majority of at bats result in either 0 or 1 base. The stat awards a double twice the value of a single, a triple three times the value, and a home run four times.<ref name="Baseball Scorekeeping: A Practical Guide, 2003">[https://books.google.com/books?id=AikEnbLTOF0C&dq=%22slugging+percentage%22&pg=PA243 Baseball Scorekeeping: A Practical Guide to the Rules], Andres Wirkmaa, Jefferson, North Carolina, London: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2003.</ref> The slugging percentage would have to be divided by 4 to actually be a percentage (of bases achieved per at bat out of total bases possible). As a result, it is occasionally called '''slugging average''', or simply '''slugging''', instead.<ref name="Slugging Average All Time Leaders on Baseball Almanac">{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/hitting/hislug1.shtml|title=Slugging Average All Time Leaders on Baseball Almanac}}<!-- this is an example --></ref>

A slugging percentage is usually expressed as a [[decimal]] to three decimal places and is generally spoken as if multiplied by 1000. For example, a slugging percentage of .589 would be spoken as "five eighty-nine." The slugging percentage can also be applied as an evaluative tool for pitchers. This is not as common but is referred to as "slugging-percentage against".<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=What is a Slugging Percentage |website=[[MLB.com]] |url=https://www.mlb.com/glossary/standard-stats/slugging-percentage}}</ref>

==In Major League Baseball==
As an example: with the [[New York Yankees]] in 1920, [[Babe Ruth]] had 458 [[at bat]]s during which he recorded 172 hits: 73 singles, 36 doubles, 9 triples, and 54 home runs.<ref name=Ruth/> This was {{nowrap|(73 × 1)}} + {{nowrap|(36 × 2)}} + {{nowrap|(9 × 3)}} + {{nowrap|(54 × 4)}} = 388 [[total bases]]. His total number of bases (388) divided by his total at-bats (458) is .847, which constitutes his slugging percentage for the season.<ref name=Ruth>{{cite web |url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/R/Pruthb101.htm |title=Babe Ruth |website=[[Retrosheet]] |access-date=April 13, 2024}}</ref>

Ruth's 1920 figure set a record in [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB), which stood until 2001 when [[Barry Bonds]] achieved 411 bases in 476 at-bats for a slugging percentage of .863.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B/Pbondb001.htm |title=Barry Bonds |website=[[Retrosheet]] |access-date=April 13, 2024}}</ref><ref name=perSeason/> [[Josh Gibson]], who played in [[Negro league baseball]], had a slugging percentage of .974 in 1937.<ref name=perSeason>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/slugging_perc_season.shtml |title=Single-Season Leaders & Records for Slugging % |website=[[Baseball Reference]] |access-date=2016-12-10}}</ref>{{efn|In late 2020, MLB began recognizing statistics of the seven "major Negro leagues",<ref>{{cite web |last=Anderson |first=R.J. |date=December 16, 2020 |title=MLB Elevates Negro Leagues to 'Major League' Status, Giving 'Overdue Recognition' to 3,400 Players |url=https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-elevates-negro-leagues-to-major-league-status-giving-overdue-recognition-to-3400-players/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216164302/https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-elevates-negro-leagues-to-major-league-status-giving-overdue-recognition-to-3400-players/ |archive-date=December 16, 2020 |access-date=December 18, 2020 |website=[[CBSSports.com]]}}</ref> thus Gibson is now listed as the single-season leader for slugging percentage.}}

Until the 2024 incorporation of [[Negro league]] statistics into major league records, the MLB career leader in slugging percentage was Ruth (.6897), followed by [[Ted Williams]] (.6338) and [[Lou Gehrig]] (.6324).<ref name=Career>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/slugging_perc_career.shtml |title=Career Leaders & Records for Slugging % |website=[[Baseball-Reference.com]] |access-date=April 13, 2024}}</ref> Ruth was displaced by [[Josh Gibson]], who has a career slugging percentage of .718.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Castrovince |first1=Anthony |title=What to know about Negro Leagues stats entering MLB record |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/faq-negro-leagues-stats-major-league-record |access-date=9 June 2024 |work=[[MLB.com]] |date=29 May 2024 |language=en}}</ref>
{{main|List of Major League Baseball career slugging percentage leaders}}

The maximum possible slugging percentage is 4.000.<ref name="Baseball Scorekeeping: A Practical Guide, 2003"/>  A number of MLB players have had a 4.000 career slugging percentage for a short amount of time by [[List of Major League Baseball players with a home run in their first major league at bat|hitting a home run in their first major league at bat]]. However, no player in MLB history has ever retired with a 4.000 slugging percentage. Four players have [[triple (baseball)|triple]]d in their only MLB [[plate appearance]] and therefore share the record—without consideration of a minimum number of [[games played]] or plate appearances—of a career slugging percentage of 3.000. They are [[Eric Cammack]] ([[2000 New York Mets season|2000 Mets]]); [[Scott Munninghoff]] ([[1980 Philadelphia Phillies season|1980 Phillies]]); [[Eduardo Rodríguez (right-handed pitcher)|Eduardo Rodríguez]] ([[1973 Milwaukee Brewers season|1973 Brewers]]); and [[Chuck Lindstrom]] ([[1958 Chicago White Sox season|1958 White Sox]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Slugging Percentage {{!}} The ARMory Power Pitching Academy |url=https://armorypitching.com/slugging-percentage/ |access-date=2020-10-10 |website=armorypitching.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

For the 2023 season, the average slugging percentage for all players in MLB was .414. The highest single-season league average was .437 in 2000, and the lowest was .305 in 1908.<ref name=MLBperSeason>{{cite web |title=Major League Baseball Batting Year-by-Year Averages |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/bat.shtml |website=[[Baseball-Reference.com]] |access-date=April 13, 2024}}</ref>

==Significance==
Long after it was invented, slugging percentage gained new significance when baseball analysts realized that it combined with [[on-base percentage]] (OBP) to form a very good measure of a player's overall offensive production (OBP + SLG was originally referred to as "production" by baseball writer and statistician [[Bill James]]). A predecessor metric was developed by [[Branch Rickey]] in 1954. Rickey, in ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine, suggested that combining OBP with what he called "extra base power" (EBP) would give a better indicator of player performance than typical [[Major League Baseball Triple Crown|Triple Crown]] stats. EBP was a predecessor to slugging percentage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://old.nationalreview.com/weekend/play-ball/pb-lewis033101.shtml|title=Lies, Damn Lies, and RBIs|access-date=2012-07-01|date=2001-03-31|first=Dan|last=Lewis|publisher=nationalreview.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020211628/http://old.nationalreview.com/weekend/play-ball/pb-lewis033101.shtml|archive-date=2012-10-20}}</ref>

[[Allen Barra]] and [[George Ignatin]] were early adopters in combining the two modern-day statistics, multiplying them together to form what is now known as "SLOB" (Slugging × On-Base).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.salon.com/news/sports/col/barra/2001/06/20/bonds/print.html|title=The best season ever?|access-date= 2007-07-15|date= 2001-06-20|first=Allen|last= Barra|work=Salon.com}}</ref> [[Bill James]] applied this principle to his [[runs created]] formula several years later (and perhaps independently), essentially multiplying SLOB × at bats to create the formula:

: <math>\text{RC}=\frac{(\text{hits}+\text{walks})\times(\text{total bases})}{(\text{at bats}) + (\text{walks})}</math>

In 1984, [[Pete Palmer]] and [[John Thorn]] developed perhaps the most widespread means of combining slugging and on-base percentage: [[on-base plus slugging]] (OPS), which is a simple addition of the two values. Because it is easy to calculate, OPS has been used with increased frequency in recent years as a shorthand form to evaluate contributions as a [[Batting (baseball)|batter]].

In a 2015 article, Bryan Grosnick made the point that "on base" and "slugging" may not be comparable enough to be simply added together. "On base" has a theoretical maximum of 1.000 whereas "slugging" has a theoretical maximum of 4.000. The actual numbers do not show as big a difference, with Grosnick listing .350 as a good "on base" and .430 as a good "slugging."  He goes on to say that OPS has the advantages of simplicity and availability and further states, "you'll probably get it 75% right, at least."<ref>[https://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2015/9/18/9329763/separate-but-not-quite-equal-why-ops-is-a-bad-statistic Separate but not quite equal: Why OPS is a "bad" statistic], Bryan Grosnick, Beyond the Box Score, September 18, 2015.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Baseball}}
*''[[Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game|Moneyball]]''
*[[Sabermetrics]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.miniwebtool.com/slugging-percentage-calculator/ Slugging Percentage Calculator]

{{Baseball statistics}}

[[Category:Baseball terminology]]
[[Category:Batting statistics]]
[[Category:Percentages]]