What is wOBA? Weighted on-base average: one number that says how much each plate appearance was worth in runs. Batting average counts a walk as nothing and a home run as one hit. wOBA prices both by the runs they tend to produce.
If you only remember one thing: wOBA looks like on-base percentage on purpose, so the scale feels familiar, but it is not OBP and it is not AVG.
- Walks count (AVG ignores them).
- Extra-base hits count more than singles (AVG treats every hit the same).
- Roughly the low .300s is average; high .300s is star work (check the season’s league mark).
What is wOBA?
wOBA is a rate stat that credits every plate appearance by the runs that outcome produces on average. It comes from run expectancy: how many runs teams score from each base-out state across huge samples of innings. A walk moves a runner. A double moves two. wOBA knows the difference.
The scale is what makes it usable. wOBA is set to look like on-base percentage, so you already have an instinct for the numbers. Something in the .310 to .320 range is roughly league average in many recent seasons, .370 is a strong year, and .400 is star territory. The exact league-average line moves with the run environment, so read a hitter against this season, not a fixed forever number.
The weights are recalculated every season and published by FanGraphs, with a plain walkthrough in its stat library. You do not have to compute it. FanGraphs and Baseball Savant print wOBA on every hitter page.
| Outcome | Batting average credit | wOBA credit |
|---|---|---|
| Out | Counts against you | None |
| Walk | Invisible: not a hit, not an at-bat | Real credit, a little under a single |
| Single | One hit | The baseline positive outcome |
| Double | One hit, same as a single | Noticeably more than a single |
| Home run | One hit, same as a single | The largest weight, more than double a single |
The exact coefficients shift a little every season. The ordering never does.
Why does batting average fall short?
Batting average is hits divided by at-bats. Two problems fall out immediately. Walks vanish, because a walk is neither a hit nor an at-bat. And every hit weighs the same, so a bloop and a ball off the wall go in the book the same way.
Two hitters can both finish at .280. One walked 30 times, the other 100. Same AVG, not the same season. The second guy reached base 70 more times. That does not show up in the number most broadcasts still put on screen.
AVG survived because it was easy to keep by hand. That constraint is gone. The question AVG was trying to answer — how much offense did this hitter create — has a better answer.
How does wOBA turn outcomes into runs?
Every plate appearance changes the base-out state, and every base-out state carries a known average run value. Run expectancy tables record those values. wOBA takes the average change each outcome produces and uses it as that outcome's weight.
That is why the stat tracks team scoring so closely. A lineup's collective wOBA lines up with runs scored far better than collective batting average. The stat was reverse-engineered from runs, so it should.
The practical effect is a reordering. A hitter who pairs doubles with walks passes a higher-average hitter who does neither, and the gap widens over 162 games. AVG calls those two even. wOBA does not.
Which hitters look better on wOBA than on batting average?
Joey Votto hit .320 in 2017 and led the National League in walks with 134. The average alone puts him in a crowd of very good hitters. His wOBA that season finished above .420, near the top of the league, because the walks and the 36 home runs carried run value the average never recorded. FanGraphs lists both numbers on the same page.
Mike Trout hit .312 in 2018 with 39 home runs and 122 walks. Batting average ranked him well. wOBA put him at the top of the league, clearing .440, because almost nobody combines that much power with that much patience. Baseball-Reference carries the full season line if you want to run the comparison yourself.
The reverse case is just as common. A contact hitter who rarely walks and rarely drives the ball can post a batting average in the same neighborhood and a wOBA a full tier below it. Same headline number, different offense.
What does wOBA catch during a single game?
Batting average reads a 1-for-4 night with a double and a walk as one hit in four tries. wOBA reads five plate appearances: an extra-base hit, a free trip to first, and three outs. Two of those five did real damage, and only one of them shows up in the average.
Scale that up across a month and the pattern holds. The hitter who works counts and takes the extra base keeps producing value the box score line flattens. It is also why a lineup can keep scoring while the top of the order sits at .260, and why a lineup full of .290 hitters can stall out.
For a fan trying to read what a hitter does tomorrow, that distinction is the whole thing. Batting average tells you how often. wOBA tells you how much. If you want to put your read on player production to the test, Download GAGE.
Common questions about wOBA
What is wOBA in baseball?
Weighted on-base average. It credits each plate appearance by the runs that outcome tends to produce, then scales the result to look like on-base percentage so the numbers stay easy to read.
What is a good wOBA? What is average wOBA in MLB?
In recent seasons, league average often sits in the low .300s (think roughly .310–.320 — check the current year). Around .340 is clearly above average, .370 is a great season, and .400 is elite. Always compare a player to that season's league mark, not a frozen number from five years ago.
What is the difference between wOBA and batting average?
Batting average counts hits per at-bat, treats them all alike, and ignores walks. wOBA counts every plate appearance and weights each outcome by run value. Two hitters can share a batting average and separate by a wide margin in wOBA.
What is the difference between wOBA and OBP?
On-base percentage asks whether you reached. wOBA asks how valuable the time on base was. OBP treats a walk and a home run as the same "reached" event. wOBA gives the home run far more credit than a walk or a single.
What is the difference between wOBA and xwOBA?
wOBA scores what happened. xwOBA estimates what should have happened from exit velocity and launch angle, regardless of where the fielders stood. A wide gap usually means luck (good or bad) and tends to close. Full breakdown: xwOBA vs wOBA.
Related: why batting average is a bad MLB stat · what is BABIP · stats hub