The hike in analytics makes baseball more than just a game of numbers. It’s now a game of calculation. It’s a sport that seems so simple yet so complex. It is not easy to understand specific statistics when watching a baseball game. For example, considering the basic pitching stats will unquestionably give you the player’s data. You’ll see stats like the number of innings pitched, ERA, and WHIP, which the spectators don’t understand.
WHIP is a ratioed statistic that measures the average number of baserunners that a pitcher allows per inning via the two primary ways that hitters reach base: hits and walks, is one such statistic.
Various people use it in fantasy baseball because it gives them an idea about how well their pitcher will do in limiting hits and walks, given the number of innings they pitch. This article will discuss WHIP and why you should care about it if you’re into stats.
Walks and Hits Per Inning Pitched (WHIP)
WHIP is a statistic that evaluates a pitcher’s performance. The statistic measures how many base runners a pitcher allows per inning in nine innings by adding hits and walks. A WHIP of 0 means that the pitchers allowed no baserunners, while a WHIP more significant than one is considered high.
Does Whip Signify a Good Pitcher?
WHIP determines how good a pitcher is in limiting his opponents from reaching base safely because it tells you how often he gives up walks and hits. For example, if you watch a game in which one pitcher has given up four walks per nine innings (BB/IP) but only two hits, he would have good WHIP numbers.
The pitcher with the lowest is considered the best pitcher in terms of walks and hits per inning pitched. For example, Pedro Martinez’s WHIP during the 2000 season was 0.737 because he only gave up three runs and struck out 319 batters over 213 innings.
WHIP measures effectiveness for pitchers who play on different teams and those who play on the same team. The league average for WHIP is between one and two, but some pitchers can achieve significantly lower numbers than this range, while others will end up with higher ones.
The valuable tool evaluates pitchers because it tells you how many runners are getting on base against them during one inning pitched. As with any statistic, knowing the context in which a pitcher is operating is very important. Low WHIP numbers won’t always mean that a pitcher has dominated, as he may have been lucky or benefited from having an excellent defense behind him.
WHIP can also determine how lucky or unlucky pitchers are with their BABIP (batting average on balls in play). A pitcher with a low WHIP and high BABIP might be lucky, while one with a higher WHIP and lower BABIP could be unlucky.
Most baseball fans may not as widely use WHIP because it isn’t a traditional statistic like strikeouts or earned runs average (ERA). Several factors attribute to why it isn’t popular. This statistic uses hits and walks rather than strikeouts, which are an equally good predictor for pitcher performance.
How is WHIP Calculated?
Simple equation; WHIP= (Walks + Hits) / Total Innings Pitched. It is the simplest way to calculate WHIP in a league. For instance, if a pitcher pitches 100 innings and has 50 walks and 30 hits, his WHIP would be (50+30) /100 = .80.
Another way is to use WHIP= (Walks + Hits) / Plate Appearances. It calculates the walks plus hits per plate appearance, but it may not be as accurate because you’re looking at how many times a batter reached base rather than baserunners allowed by the pitcher.
There is another way to calculate it that requires more math skills;
Please note: This calculation method isn’t used in any significant league today because the answer won’t always come out to an integer, but it can be helpful to calculate a player’s WHIP if you are working with his career numbers.
WHIP = (Walks x Walks) + (Hit Batsmen x Hit Batters) / IP
Why WHIP?
Pitching is about run prevention, and run prevention is about base runner prevention, so it makes sense that you’d want to know how well a pitcher prevents base runners. WHIP tells you how well a pitcher limits the number of runners he allows on base, and if you care about runs allowed (and we all should), it tells you how many runs those base runners will score.
Statistics of WHIP
- The best single-season WHIP belongs to the hall of fame Pedro Martinez. He had a WHIP of 0.74 during the 2000 season as he only allowed three runs and struck out 319 batters over 213 innings, so Pedro Martinez’s WHIP was .0737
- The best career (that is still active) belongs to Johan Santana, who currently has a mark of .9212, which equates to allowing an average of 12.25 base runners per nine innings with a career ERA of more than three runs lower, an impressive mark for any pitcher
- The worst career WHIP belongs to Rob Mackowiak, who has a mark of .9855, giving him an average of 18 base runners allowed over every nine innings pitched with an ERA that was well above the league average during his time in baseball.
- The best team WHIP-season belongs to the 2005 Chicago White Sox, who had a WHIP of .9955 with only 26 walks and 123 hits over their entire team during that year which gave them an ERA that was nearly half-a-run better than any other MLB team.
- The worst team WHIP in history goes to the 1920 Philadelphia Athletics, whose WHIP was an astronomical .9849 as they allowed a staggering 601 walks and only 377 hits over the entire season, which is crazy given how long ago that happened.
The Origin of WHIP
Daniel Okrent created WHIP in 1979 while he was working for the magazine “The Baseball Encyclopedia.” The statistic was formerly known as “Innings Pitched Ratio which evolved into the term WHIP. According to Daniel, the reasoning behind the idea was to add a component to predicting and scoring runs. In the 1990s the Major League Baseball accepted the statistic but not officially. Games would be won and lost by the WHIPs of each team. Finally, after years of debate, they made WHIP an official statistic with the help of Daniel Okrent.
WHIP is a more accurate statistic than ERA because it considers all baserunners on base, not just those who score. Also, WHIP tells you if a pitcher had any control of his pitching staffs’ ability to get men on base.
FAQs
Does WHIP Correlate to Wins?
No, because it doesn’t include strikeouts. Wins depend on the runs scored in a game.
Does WHIP Correlate to Saves?
A reliever’s scarcity means that they will have many more opportunities for saves than most starters or long men. As such, closers usually have very low WHIPs since they are pitching almost exclusively to one batter.
Does WHIP Correlate to ERA?
No, because it doesn’t consider how many runs earn on a pitcher’s record, and an inherited runner who eventually scores is just as bad for that pitcher’s ERA as giving up two or three runs in an inning.
Does WHIP Affect Performance?
Yes, because pitchers who allow more base runners tend to enable more runs showing up on the box score as earned runs allowed. The problem with using ERA is that it includes unearned runs in some cases where a pitcher shoulders no responsibility for them (like when his offense scores a run for him or when a reliever comes in and inherits runners).
Does WHIP Affect any Other Pitching Metric?
Yes. Because WHIP tracks the number of base runners that pitchers allow to reach base safely, those with lower numbers tend to track well-performers according to other rate stats like ERA (and vice versa).
Conclusion
(WHIP) is a statistical measure of a pitcher’s effectiveness and reflects a pitcher’s ability to control runners on base. It expresses the number of baserunners allowed by a pitcher per inning pitched.