Slugging percentage

The slugging percentage (SLG) may be used to determine which player is better when two or more players have the same or almost the same batting average.

This percentage is calculated by using the formula below.

Some useful terminology

Total bases = Number of bases covered

Number of official at bats =  Any turn as a batter

Home run = 4 bases

Triple = 3 bases

Double = 2 bases

Single = 1 base

When the percentage is high, it means that the player has hit the ball farther or better resulting in getting to more bases or home runs.

However, a factor that will influence the SLG is the number of outs.

The more outs, the lower the SLG.

So, a player can maximize the SLG by increasing the number of bases and decreasing the number of outs.

When computing this SLG, we usually round decimal answers to three places.

A few real-life examples that will show you how to find the slugging percentage

Example #1:

During a baseball game, a player had the following performance:

3 home runs

5 triples

12 doubles

20 singles

40 outs

What is the player's slugging percentage?

3 home runs = 3 × 4 = 12 bases.

5 triples = 5 × 3 = 15

12 doubles = 12 × 2 = 24

20 singles = 20 × 1 = 20

Total bases = 12 + 15 + 24 + 20 = 71

Total at bats is found by adding everything shown in bold above.

Total at bats = 3 + 5 + 12 + 20 + 40 = 80

SLG = (Total bases)/(Number of official at bats)

SLG = (71)/(80)

SLG = 0.8875

After rounding to three decimals place, we get 0.888

Example #2:

During a baseball game, a player had the following performance:

1 home run

6 triples

14 doubles

25 singles

30 outs

What is the player's SLG?

1 home run = 1 × 4 = 4 bases.

6 triples = 6 × 3 = 18

14 doubles = 14 × 2 = 28

25 singles = 25 × 1 = 25

Total bases = 4 + 18 + 28 + 25 = 75

Total at bats is found by adding everything shown in bold above.

Total at bats = 1 + 6 + 14 + 25 + 30 = 76

SLG = (Total bases)/(Number of official at bats)

SLG = (75)/(76)

SLG = 0.98684

After rounding to three decimals place, we get 0.987