RBI is one of the first stats any fan learns, and for a century it was treated as the ultimate measure of a hitter who delivers. Drive in runs and you win games, the thinking went, so the player with the most RBI must be the best at producing offense. So what is RBI in baseball really measuring, and does it deserve that reputation? The short answer is that RBI counts something real and useful, but it also quietly credits a hitter for things teammates did, which is why analysts have largely moved on to better tools. Here is the honest version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RBI stands for runs batted in. It counts the number of runs that score as a direct result of a batter’s action at the plate. If a runner is on second base and the hitter singles him home, that hitter gets one RBI. Simple enough. The complications start once you look at exactly what counts and what does not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n