Each MLB season since 1876, the National League has handed out a batting title to the hitter with the best average at season's end, from the days of Ross Barnes of the Chicago White Stockings 149 years ago to Luis Arraez of the Miami Marlins and San Diego Padres in 2024.
In between those two poles, the one consistency among the many men that have taken home an NL batting title was their ability to hit above .300 across the marathon that is the MLB regular season, though that 149-year streak may be in jeopardy this season. That's because four hitters across the entire Senior Circuit are currently hitting at or above .300, in Will Smith and Freddie Freeman of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Xavier Edwards of the Marlins and Trea Turner of the Philadelphia Phillies.
With that in mind, RotoWire.com wanted to take a look at each hitter, as well as Sal Frelick of the Milwaukee Brewers, who is the closest sub-.300 hitter in the race, at .298, to see if any of them can do enough to avoid becoming the first sub-.300 hitter to win an NL batting title.
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2025 National League Batting Average Leaders:
Will Smith (Los Angeles Dodgers catcher): .304 batting average in 99 games played
Trea Turner (Philadelphia Phillies 2B): .303 batting average in 125 games played
Freddie Freeman (Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman): .302 batting average in 114 games played
Xavier Edwards (Miami Marlins shortstop): .302 batting average in 110 games played
Sal Frelick (Milwaukee Brewers right fielder): .298 batting average in 111 games played
Will Smith (Los Angeles Dodgers catcher)
Through his seven-year MLB career, the Dodgers catcher has managed to post a career batting average of .264, with his current .304 NL-leading average standing well above his previous career high in a full season of .289, set in 2020.
In order to stay above .300 for the final 25 games of the season, Smith will have to wake up his bat, with the longtime Dodgers' backstop currently mired in an 8-for-46 (.174) stretch at the plate in August, with more strikeouts (13) than hits during that stretch.
Assuming Smith averages three plate appearances per game over the Dodgers' final 25 contests this season, he'd have to collect at least 22 more hits across those 75 at-bats to keep his average north of the .300 mark, which might be a stretch given the catcher's current issues collecting base hits right now.
Trea Turner (Philadelphia Phillies shortstop)
Turner's third season in Philly has been his best statistically, with a .303 average to go with 13 home runs, 59 RBIs and 31 stolen bases in 125 games played. Turner has three full seasons at or above the .300 mark, doing so with the Washington Nationals in 2016, 2020 and with the Nationals and Dodgers in 2021.
This year, Turner and his 4.1 WAR in 125 games played are firmly in the NL batting title race, thanks to his .366 average in the month of August with 30 hits across 82 at-bats, collecting five doubles, two triples and home runs and 15 RBIs for the first-place Fightin' Phils, who hold commanding -1400 odds of winning the NL East on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Given how Turner's already raised his average by .015, from .288 at the start of August to the current .303 figure, it seems like a safe bet to avoid betting against the veteran infielder to do enough at the dish to finish the year with an average at or above .300.
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Freddie Freeman (Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman)
If there's one man in the current NL batting average race that knows what it takes to get the job done, it's Freeman, who has somehow never won a batting crown in his 16-year MLB career, though he was a runner-up twice, in 2020 and 2022.
This season, Freeman enters the home stretch of the season second overall in terms of average, at .302, though he's red-hot at the dish right now, with a .328 average in 67 at-bats during the month of August.
At that pace, Freeman shouldn't have any issue keeping his average north of the .300 mark, as he's already raised his number from .299 at the start of the month to the current .302 number, thanks to collecting those 22 hits, with five doubles, four home runs and 14 RBIs across that stretch for the Dodgers, who currently hold -280 odds of winning the NL West on DraftKings Sportsbook.
It also helps that Freeman's career average across 2,144 MLB games played is .300, meaning the 2020 NL MVP knows what it takes to collect enough hits to keep him north of that number in the Dodgers' final 25 regular season games this year.
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Xavier Edwards (Miami Marlins shortstop)
Perhaps the biggest surprise in this year's NL batting title race is the third-year infielder who showed immaculate hitting skills for the Marlins last year, though he did so in 70 games played. That's because 26-year-old infielder Xavier Edwards has been the smash success story of 2025 in the Senior Circuit, with an average of .302 and 2.9 WAR this season, currently ranking third in the NL race.
Edwards' rise to the top of the pack in the batting title race comes from his .333 average in August, with the up-and-coming infielder collecting 28 hits across 84 at-bats, with 3 doubles, a triple and home run and 7 RBIs between Aug. 1 and 20, with an on-base percentage of .364 and an OPS of .792 during that stretch.
Looking forward, Edwards' run towards the batting crown might be running on fumes, as he's in a 3-for-21 slump over the Marlins' last five games, including an 0-for-4 showing against the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night. Still, Edwards enters the final stretch of games a mere .002 behind Smith and tied with Freeman in the NL batting title chase, with plenty of time to build on what he's done so far for the NL East stalwarts from South Florida.
Sal Frelick (Milwaukee Brewers right fielder)
Like Edwards, Frelick is in the midst of his third MLB season, with the former first-round pick out of Boston College posting career numbers across the board, with 2.8 WAR in 111 games played, along with his .298 average, 9 home runs and 49 RBIs.
Better yet for Brew Crew fans is the fact that Frelick's putting up his best numbers when it matters most, with a .340 average in August, going 17-for-50 at the plate with three doubles, 1 home run and 8 RBIs during that stretch.
So far this month, Frelick's managed to raise his average by .002, from .296 to the current .298 number for the Brewers, who currently hold -750 odds to win the NL Central on DraftKings Sportsbook, which means he'll have to keep at his current .340 clip if he's going to go that final distance to eclipse the .300 mark in 2025, though his strong start to the month means that anything's possible in the Cream City.
