Baseball Glossary › Extra-Base Hit
Extra-Base Hit (XBH)
An extra-base hit (XBH) is any hit that is not a single, so every double, triple and home run counts as one. XBH is a counting stat: add a hitter's doubles, triples and homers together. It is a quick way to judge power, and sometimes speed, because fast runners can stretch a single into a double.
Formula
Worked example (illustrative numbers): a hitter has 32 doubles, 3 triples and 24 home runs.
XBH = 32 + 3 + 24 = 59
Athletics example: Jimmie Foxx
Jimmie Foxx paired 458 doubles and 125 triples with 534 home runs. See the full career line on the Jimmie Foxx player page.
XBH = 458 + 125 + 534 = 1,117
Share of his 2,646 hits that went for extra bases: 42.2 percent
Career MLB totals from our player database (MLB Stats API).
What to Know
XBH counts every extra-base hit as one, so a double and a home run add the same amount. Total bases weights them instead, two bases for a double and four for a home run, and isolated power turns those extra bases into a rate per at-bat. Use XBH for a simple count, total bases for volume of damage and ISO for power per at-bat.
Extra-base hits are the reason slugging percentage can be far higher than batting average. Two hitters with the same number of hits can have very different slugging numbers if one of them hits many more doubles and home runs.
MLB's glossary notes that XBH can also be tracked for pitchers, where it is called extra-base hits against.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is XBH in baseball?
XBH stands for extra-base hit. It is any hit that is not a single, which means doubles, triples and home runs. A player's XBH total is simply his doubles, triples and home runs added together.
What does extra-base hit mean?
An extra-base hit is a hit on which the batter reaches at least second base on the hit itself: a double, a triple or a home run. A single is the only kind of hit that is not an extra-base hit.
Is a home run an extra-base hit?
Yes. Home runs count as extra-base hits along with doubles and triples. In the XBH total a home run counts as one extra-base hit, the same as a double, even though it is worth four total bases.
How is XBH different from total bases?
XBH counts the number of doubles, triples and home runs. Total bases counts how many bases all of a hitter's hits are worth, with singles included. A home run adds one XBH but four total bases.
Does reaching second on an error count as an extra-base hit?
No. Only the hit itself determines whether it is an extra-base hit. If a batter singles and takes second because of an error or a throw, the official scoring is still a single, so it does not add an XBH.
Can pitchers have an XBH stat?
Yes. When the stat is applied to pitchers it is called extra-base hits against, and it counts the doubles, triples and home runs a pitcher allows. It is used less often than for hitters.
Related Terms
Sources
- MLB.com Glossary: Extra-base Hit (XBH)
- MLB.com Glossary: Total Bases (TB)
- MLB.com Glossary: Isolated Power (ISO)
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