It's an OPS world in today's major leagues with batting average in the background

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Batting average was a priority for Andrew Benintendi when he first broke into the major leagues in 2016. He batted .312 in the minors on the way to his debut.

Going into his fourth season with the Chicago White Sox and 11th overall, he is more focused on his OPS and power numbers.

“The game kind of changes where the money is, I guess,” Benintendi said. “So players obviously will chase that.”

The significance of batting average has been in decline for years, replaced by on-base percentage and slugging percentage, along with the OPS metric that combines the two. Batting average treats all hits as the same, while OPS accounts for power and other methods of reaching base.

But the diminished importance of what was once one of the majors' marquee statistics was thrown into sharp relief by the free agency of Luis Arraez over the winter.

Arraez, a three-time batting champion who turns 29 in April, hit a career-low .292 with eight homers and 61 RBIs in 154 games for San Diego last season. The infielder also led the NL in hits for the second straight year. But he doesn't hit for power or walk very much, and he has defensive limitations.

So, even with his .317 career batting average — tops among active qualified players — Arraez was on the market until right before spring training, when he agreed to a $12 million, one-year deal with San Francisco. Arraez said he had some multiyear offers, but the Giants gave him an opportunity to play second base.

“I don't care who (is throwing). I don't care if he's a Cy Young (Award winner),” he said. “I have a bat, and I want to go up there and compete.”

The MLB-wide batting average has remained fairly steady since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. It was .248 in 2023 — marking a successful debut for a package of rule changes that included a pitch clock, bigger bases and limits on infield shifts — .243 in 2024 and .245 last year, according to Sportradar.

While New York Yankees star Aaron Judge won the 2025 AL batting title with a .331 average, just seven qualified big leaguers hit .300 or better, matching the previous year for the fewest since a record-low six in 1968. Philadelphia’s Trea Turner won the NL batting title with a record-low .304 average.

“We look at more of the advanced metrics and the expected outcomes based on the quality of the at-bat, the process metrics, but you can start with batting average and say this guy’s doing something well,” said Chris Young, the president of baseball operations for the Texas Rangers.

“It’s a preliminary indicator, but we dig pretty deep in terms of understanding the profile of a player and what we can expect and predict.”

Batting average is “not something that we look at at the beginning of an evaluation,” said Jed Hoyer, the president of baseball operations for the Chicago Cubs.

“I think there’s a lot of things that are much more important,” Hoyer said, “but I do think that a guy like a Nico Hoerner or Luis Arraez, I do think in a world that values a strikeout, in a world that has so much incredible stuff, I think that the players that can truly put the ball in play at an elite level, I do think there’s something to that.”

Hoerner hit .297 for the Cubs last year, helping the team reach the playoffs for the first time since 2020. He batted a team-high .371 with runners in scoring position.

The 28-year-old Hoerner, who is going into the last year of his contract, said he thinks players still take some pride in their batting average.

“I think it's telling that if you ask the player what he hit last year, he still understands that that’s batting average, right?” Hoerner said. "They don’t say like, oh, I hit .840 OPS. I hit .270 or whatever it is.

“Players are aware of what’s valued and what gets them on the field and yeah, I don’t think batting average is particularly high on that list. But I do think it is a reflection of quality of contact that guys make.”

It has changed the way players like Benintendi approach their game. From 2016-23, he hit .276 and averaged 14.1 homers per 162 games. In two years since, he is batting .234 and averaging 25.8 homers per 162 games.

“I think it’s more slug, OPS is what outweighs batting average now,” Benintendi said, “because say you hit .250 but you have 50 homers, would you rather have that or a guy who hits .315 with 10 homers? So I mean it’s kind of give and take depending on the player.”

The future of batting average also belongs to the game's youngest players, and it still holds some allure to them as well.

Cincinnati infielder Sal Stewart, one of the preseason favorites for NL Rookie of the Year, hit .309 over two minor league stops last year before making his Reds debut in September. Stewart said batting average didn't come up very often during his development process, but it means something to him.

“I mean I’m not like, ‘Oh average is the king,’ you know, but I look into it,” he said. “But I really like on-base the most.”

AP Baseball Writer David Brandt contributed to this report.

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Philadelphia Phillies' Trea Turner reacts during spring training baseball Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, in Clearwater, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge connects for a single off Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jesse Hahn during the fifth inning of a spring training baseball game Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in Dunedin, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Luis Arraez (1) and Willy Adames (2) hype each other up before their spring training game between the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

San Francisco Giants' Luis Arraez, right, connects for a run-scoring single as Athletics catcher Austin Wynns, left, looks on during the third inning of a spring training baseball game Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

The United States and Israel targeted Iran in coordinated attacks over the weekend that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of other senior figures and kicked off a furious Iranian response that threatens a wider regional war.

Allies of the U.S. pledged to help stop Iran’s missile and drone strikes. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah claimed strikes on Israel for the first time in more than a year, and Israel fired back.

The first U.S. military deaths have been reported. Other deaths have been confirmed in Israel and Gulf nations, while Iran has said hundreds of people have been killed there.

With Khamenei’s death, the Islamic Republic must now choose a supreme leader for the first time since 1989. U.S. President Donald Trump has urged Iranians to seize the moment and overthrow the theocracy that cracked down on nationwide protests early this year. There was no sign that was happening.

Around the world, some protested. Others cheered.

The attacks came two days after the latest U.S.-Iran talks aimed at putting controls on Tehran’s nuclear program. They echoed the events of last year, when talks were cut short by an Israeli attack that led to a 12-day war and U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear sites. Washington has claimed that Iran was rebuilding its nuclear program in recent months.

Iran has said it hasn’t enriched since June, but it has blocked IAEA inspectors from visiting the sites America bombed.

Here’s where things stand.

The 86-year-old Khamenei was killed when his compound was bombed Saturday morning. Iran’s ballistic missile sites, navy headquarters and warships were attacked as well. Iran said strikes also targeted the Natanz nuclear enrichment site.

Khamenei had no designated successor. Iran has set up a three-member leadership council, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said a new supreme leader would be chosen in “one or two days.” On the streets, there have been scattered celebrations over Khamenei’s death. Internet restrictions in Iran have complicated efforts to monitor what’s happening.

In retaliation, Iran’s military has struck Israel, where several people have been killed. Iran has also targeted U.S. bases in the region. The U.S. military said three service members were killed, the first known U.S. casualties. Other Iranian strikes have killed a handful of people in Gulf nations including the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, and hundreds of flights have been affected at some of the world’s busiest airports.

What to watch for: further military strikes, the selection of a new supreme leader, and reactions from the Iranian people.

The strikes came after the U.S. built up its biggest military presence in the region in decades. Israeli and U.S. authorities spent weeks tracking the movements of senior Iranian leaders. Trump has said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” in Iran would continue through the week or longer.

U.S. military bases throughout the region remain a potential target of Iranian attacks.

The U.S. has signaled it is willing to talk to Iran’s new leaders, eventually. Meanwhile, some leaders in Congress have protested at the launch of the strikes without congressional authorization.

What to watch for: further military strikes, effects on U.S. bases and forces, and any diplomacy with Iran's new leadership.

Israel sees Iran as an existential threat and has long sought to end its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, while also targeting armed allied groups like Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israeli attacks have weakened those groups since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that started the war in Gaza.

Israel launched strikes in Lebanon early Monday in retaliation for missiles that Hezbollah launched across the border.

Now Israel has pledged “nonstop” strikes and at one point said 100 fighter jets were simultaneously striking targets in Tehran. During last year's war, Israel pitched Trump a plan to kill Khamenei. Now they have.

Israelis dashed to shelters for safety all weekend, but most of Iran’s attacks have been intercepted. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under international criticism for the war in Gaza, is claiming a win for Israel’s security.

But risk remains from Iranian-backed groups like the Houthi rebels in Yemen who have vowed to resume attacks on Red Sea shipping routes and on Israel.

What to watch for: further military strikes, as well as attacks by and against Iranian proxies.

The current conflict is already far more intense than last year’s Israel-Iran war, where the U.S. inserted itself near the end by bombing Iranian nuclear sites and Iran responded with a calculated attack on a U.S. military base in Qatar.

Now, hundreds of Iranian missile and drone strikes have sent people scrambling across Gulf nations that had previously been relatively insulated from the volatility in the region.

The United Arab Emirates said Dubai's main airport had been affected, and tourists and others flinched at the booms of interceptors. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted attacks, and summoned Iran’s ambassador. Top diplomats of six Gulf states said they had the “right to self-defense."

Oil prices rose sharply when market trading began Sunday as traders bet that supply from the critical region would slow or stop. Attacks on and near the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical oil chokepoint, are also raising concerns about supply.

In response, eight countries that are part of the OPEC+ oil cartel said they would boost production of crude.

And on Monday, the world might learn the first details about any effects on Iran’s nuclear program as the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors holds a meeting on the conflict.

What to watch for: oil prices, details on Iran's nuclear program, and diplomatic efforts.

A man holds an Iranian flag as he looks at the damaged façade of Gandhi Hospital, which was hit Sunday when a strike also struck a state TV communications tower and nearby buildings across the street during the ongoing joint U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A bird flies by a plume of smoke rising after a strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Plumes of smoke from two simultaneous strikes rise over Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohsen Ganji)

Flames and smoke rise from Israeli airstrikes on Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Israeli security forces inspect a damaged road after a missile launched from Iran struck Jerusalem, Sunday, March 1, 2026.(AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Government supporters gather in mourning after state TV officially announced the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A woman cries as she mourns the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during a gathering in the southern Suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

This image provided by U.S. Central Command shows a F/A-18E Super Hornet landing on the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) in support of Operation Epic Fury, on Sunday, March 1, 2026. (U.S. Navy via AP)