Calories burned
softball or baseball
368 kcal / hour Softball or baseball burns approximately 368 calories per hour for a 70 kg (154 lb) adult, and 184 calories in 30 minutes. Across the normal adult weight range the hourly figure runs from about 263 to 630 kcal.
It carries a MET value of 5 in the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities.
Calories burned softball or baseball by body weight
Energy cost scales with the mass you move, so body weight changes the answer more than anything else.
| Body weight | 15 min | 30 min | 45 min | 60 min | 90 min |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 kg (110 lb) | 66 | 131 | 197 | 263 | 394 |
| 60 kg (132 lb) | 79 | 158 | 236 | 315 | 473 |
| 70 kg (154 lb) | 92 | 184 | 276 | 368 | 551 |
| 80 kg (176 lb) | 105 | 210 | 315 | 420 | 630 |
| 90 kg (198 lb) | 118 | 236 | 354 | 473 | 709 |
| 100 kg (220 lb) | 131 | 263 | 394 | 525 | 788 |
| 110 kg (243 lb) | 144 | 289 | 433 | 578 | 866 |
| 120 kg (265 lb) | 158 | 315 | 473 | 630 | 945 |
Figures in kilocalories (the "calories" on food labels). The highlighted row is the 70 kg reference adult used in the headline figure; the highlighted column is one hour.
What 368 calories an hour actually means
At MET 5, softball or baseball counts as moderate activity — it uses about 5 times the energy your body burns sitting still. For a 70 kg adult that works out to roughly 6 kcal per minute, or 368 kcal across a full hour.
Within sports, that ranks 55th of 91 activities by energy cost, a little below motorcycle racing (MET 5.3) and above cricket (MET 4.8).
Put differently: one hour of softball or baseball costs about the same energy as 75 minutes of ordinary walking.
On the food side, a slice of pizza (about 285 kcal) takes roughly 47 minutes of softball or baseball to offset at that body weight. That framing is useful for scale, but it is worth saying plainly: exercise and diet are not a ledger that cancels neatly, and appetite tends to rise with activity.
Questions
How many calories does softball or baseball burn per hour?
About 368 kcal per hour for a 70 kg (154 lb) adult, using the Compendium MET value of 5. A 90 kg adult burns closer to 473 kcal in the same hour, because energy cost scales almost directly with body mass.
How many calories does 30 minutes of softball or baseball burn?
Roughly 184 kcal at 70 kg, 158 kcal at 60 kg and 263 kcal at 100 kg. Halving the time halves the calories — the relationship is linear.
What is the MET value of softball or baseball?
5. One MET is the energy you use sitting quietly, so MET 5 means 5 times that rate.
Is this an exact number of calories?
No, and no calculator can give you one. MET values are population averages measured in laboratory conditions; your own figure varies with fitness, technique, terrain, temperature and body composition. Treat these numbers as a solid estimate for planning, not a precise measurement — and treat any device or site claiming three-digit precision with suspicion.
Related activities
Three more from sports, and three with a similar energy cost from elsewhere in the Compendium.
MET value from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities (activity code 15620). Calories computed as MET × 3.5 × weight kg ÷ 200 per minute. General information only — not medical, fitness or nutrition advice. Calorie figures are population estimates and vary between individuals.