What is a Quality At-Bat (QAB)?

A quality at-bat (QAB) is a plate appearance where the batter competes effectively, regardless of the outcome. If your kid's coach talks about QABs, here's the short version: a hard line drive that's caught? That's a QAB. A walk after an 8-pitch battle? QAB. A sacrifice bunt that moves a runner? QAB. An easy popout on the first pitch? Not a QAB. The stat measures the quality of effort and approach, not just whether the player got a hit. This page explains QAB for parents and players; coaches can find the full quality at-bat definition, criteria table, and benchmarks on the stat page.

Different coaches use slightly different criteria, but the most common QAB definitions include:

The exact criteria vary by team, so ask the coach which list they use. What matters is that QAB captures plate discipline, competitiveness, and smart at-bats, things batting average misses entirely.

Batting average only rewards hits. A kid who hits a soft roller through the infield gets credit. A kid who smokes a line drive right at the shortstop gets nothing. Over a short youth season (15-20 games), batting average is heavily influenced by luck.

QAB rewards the process: the approach, the effort, the competitive at-bat. It's a better development stat because it measures what the batter can control, not what the defense does with the ball. So if your kid goes 0-for-3 but the coach is happy, this is probably why: the at-bats were good even though the hits didn't fall.

At every age from 10U through high school, QAB is the stat that best captures whether a player is improving as a hitter. Coaches who want to run QAB with their team should read the quality at-bat coaching system guide.