With the emergence of advanced analytics in baseball one stat has taken a back seat amongst many fans and the media. This stat is batting average, a stat that has been around since it’s inception in the early 1800s. The real question is why, and does it truly even matter in today’s sport?

Before we go into that we need to understand what batting average even tells us. Batting average when you break it down is the percentage a player gets a hit during the season. So if someone has a batting of .300 they get a hit 30% of the time they go up to bat. And that is all it tells us a very simple stat but an important one.

In todays game it is about the long ball the home run the splash hit. This is what automatically drives in runs there is no arguing it and no way someone can get an out on hits like this. On base percentage has taken over batting average in importance to the teams and the fans. And on base percentage is also very important but just because something becomes more important doesn’t mean that the other has to become less important in the long run.

The argument made by some is that a walk is just as good as a hit. This statement is just wrong a hit is way better than a walk. The thing about hits is that they can advance base runners by more than one base. While a walk can as well on wild pitches this is by far more rare than a double or triple. Batting average also tells me how often someone puts the ball in play. In baseball this is very important as putting the ball in play no matter where it is hit does not guarantee an out. Sometimes putting a ball in play can cause chaos on the field and this causes more mistakes than a walk would.

Getting a hit no matter if it is a single, double, triple, or home run is very good for the player and the team. It increases both the players batting average and on base percentage. And for the team it is a tone shifter. If you start off an inning with a hit it puts the pitcher more on his toes and also excites the team and they all want to get in on the action as well.

In situational parts as well batting average plays a more important role as well. In a scenario with runners on second and third and two outs what do you want there a hit or a walk. In my opinion this is where a hit guarantees a run possibly even two depending on the base runners, but a walk guarantees nothing except that the next batter will come up with bases loaded and two outs.

In the end hits and batting average tell you who you can trust in situational baseball. A player is not always guaranteed to hit a home run so sometimes you have to hit singles to win games. A hit is beautiful and to have a team where everyone hits above .250 can put a lot more stress on the pitcher than a team of players who look for walks. There is no one best stat in baseball that can tell you how good a player is just from that one stat, they all work together and tell a story of how good the player is and batting average is an important part of that story.