My friend and former colleague at The Hardball Times had a fine post on some key analytical stats.

Here is a link

Most readers are probably already familiar with many/all of these, but it is good to have a glossary in one place. Derek’s explanation of the importance of each is also useful. One thing I would add is that contact rate and walk rate are vital cogs in understanding batting average.

If each hitter will generally convert 30% of his batted balls into hits, then the more contact you make the more hits you will get. The denominator of batting average is at-bats, which is where walk rate comes in. A walk is not an at-bat, so by increasing walks you decrease at-bats and by making more contact you increase hits.

Hence, contact rate and walk rate can be key factors in forecasting batting average declines and increases.