Advanced metrics have never been a more integral part of baseball as they are today; everyone is looking for stats that will give them a slight edge in predicting how good a player is. For pitchers, one of the most discussed stats is WHIP, and it is often one of the first stats baseball fans look at when determining a pitcher’s abilities.
But what is WHIP, and what is a good WHIP in baseball? We will break down how to calculate WHIP and what is the WHIP of the best players in all levels of the game.
What Is WHIP?
WHIP is an acronym for Walks And Hits Per Inning Pitched. It is a handy number to show the average number of walks and hits a pitcher gives up in a single inning. With enough innings pitched, you can get a general idea of how solid a pitcher is on the mound just by looking at their WHIP.
Pitchers with lower WHIPs are generally the ones that will give up the fewest runs, as they allow the least amount of people on base. While higher WHIPs do not always mean a pitcher will have a high earned run average (ERA), the two numbers do typically share a correlation.
How To Calculate WHIP
Calculating WHIP is a straightforward exercise. You simply need to add up a pitcher’s total walks and hits, and then divide that number by the total innings pitched. This number will likely be around one.
For example, we will look at the 2021 season from Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani surrendered 98 hits and 44 walks throughout 130 1/3 innings. Adding up his hits and walks gives us 142 in total, and dividing it by 130 1/3 gives us Ohtani’s WHIP of 1.09 in his MVP campaign.
What Is a Good WHIP in MLB?
Major League Baseball is home to the best players in the world, and many of the pitchers in the big league are some of the best arms on the planet. But it might surprise some fans to know that the best WHIP in each level of the game is roughly the same; Major League pitchers often have similar WHIP to the best arms in college baseball.
Some advanced stats are always normalized so that the average is the same each year. This is not the case for WHIP, which can fluctuate from year-to-year depending on how well hitters are doing in a given year. Thankfully, we have a general barometer for what constitutes a good and bad WHIP in a season.
In the Major Leagues, the average WHIP is around 1.30. Most middle-of-the-rotation pitchers will throw around this mark. Pitchers with a WHIP above 1.50 are generally thought of as poor and could be heading back to Minor League Baseball or the bench.
Pitchers who can push their WHIP to 1.10 are generally considered elite at their craft, and any pitcher who has a WHIP under 1 is likely in the discussion to win the Cy Young Award.
During the 2021 season, Max Scherzer led the league with an impressive .864 WHIP, and it should be no surprise then that he finished third in Cy Young Voting. Three other pitchers finished with a WHIP under 1 in 2021.
What Is a Good WHIP in College Baseball?
In college baseball, WHIP is still a good indicator of how well a pitcher is playing, but it does come with more caveats. College pitchers throw in far fewer games, as the NCAA has a limit of 56 games maximum for a team; Major League Baseball teams play 162 games, giving more time for statistics to normalize. A few bad starts for a college arm can lead to an inflated WHIP compared to the level of play.
Another variance that college baseball has is the quality of teams. MLB teams are all relatively around the same skill level. This is not always true in college sports, as prestige programs typically dominate smaller schools. Playing too many schools too far above or below a team’s level can inflate or deflate a WHIP.
Despite this, WHIP is still a vital tool at the collegiate level. The elite pitchers will find their WHIP below 1 and poor pitchers above 1.5.
What Is a Good WHIP in High School Baseball?
High school baseball is also prone to the same variance as collegiate sports, but even more so. High school teams typically play between 20-30 games in a season, meaning one or two bad games can balloon a WHIP.
High school defenses also lack the speed and skills seen at other levels of the sport; this leads to scenarios where a pitcher induces weak contact but the defenders cannot quite make the out. These scenarios will not count as errors and will count as a hit, but the fault is not totally on the pitcher.
High school pitchers should strive to get a WHIP between 1 and 1.30. Because of the lower skill level at the high school level, a high WHIP is not necessarily an indication of a poor pitcher. He may be able to bring his WHIP down in the next season or if the current season were longer.
Does WHIP Predict Success?
WHIP is not a perfect measure of a pitcher; it can be misleading at times, and sometimes does not tell the whole story. A pitcher who generates a massive amount of strikeouts but still walks a lot of batters will likely have a high WHIP. But if those runners never move forward, this higher WHIP isn’t hurting the team.
Like most advanced stats, WHIP is a tool to be used in conjunction with other statistics. Pitchers with lower WHIPs tend to be the best in the league, but one stat cannot tell the whole story on its own.
Conclusion: What Is a Good WHIP in Baseball?
If you want a good idea of how a pitcher is doing, look at his WHIP. Average arms can typically achieve a WHIP of 1.30, and elite players will score under 1. No matter the level, WHIP is an important tool in the arsenal to determine a pitcher’s skill.