When Cubs games air on Marquee Sports Network, opening lineups are displayed with one statistic next to each name: OPS.
We see at a glance that Ian Happ (1.062) ranks with the best, while Javy Baez (.588) and Kris Bryant (.576) do not.
On-base percentage plus slugging percentage is not a perfect stat, but it tells us a lot more than batting average in that OPS accounts for ways of getting on base in addition to hits and hits for extra bases.
Still, fans need context. Those who have an image of a .300 hitter as a star, .