What is Whip in Baseball

When it comes to running the show in major league baseball organizations, analytics and sabermetrics are the pitchers? In recent years, with the rise of fantasy baseball on so many different platforms, baseball fans have to start educating themselves about how a perfect pitch is thrown or what is Whip in baseball, and such questions that help them decide to predict a player’s performance.

Today here in this blog, we are going over Whip and its analytics. This is the best method to answer for the question “What is WHIP in Baseball?”

What is WHIP in Baseball?

What is WHIP in baseball you asked us? WHIP is another sabermetrics measurement calculating the number of base runners that a pitcher has allowed per inning. Or in other words, WHIP is referred to as “Walk and Hit per Inning Pitched.”

In theory, WHIP shows analytical data about a pitcher’s performance during the season. If the pitcher can keep the baserunner off the base paths. Fantasy players might take him on their team hoping to get good results. 

However, sometimes intentional walks also count against a WHIP. This can slightly throw off a player’s statistics.  A perfect WHIP means the pitcher did not allow any homerun and out other base players during the game. They will be considered even if it’s a strike out, ground out, or fly out. These are different from “Walk and Hit per Inning Pitched”.

What Does WHIP Mean in Baseball?

As we have mentioned WHIP is counted or calculated by adding all the home runs or hits during a game and dividing it by the total number of innings pitched. A higher or lower WHIP will show the pitcher’s ability to allow batters to reach base.

If the WHIP is high then that means the player performed poorly during the season. This may also affect his overall ratings badly throughout the season.

However, on the other hand, if the WHIP is lower for example: near 1.20, these WHIP ratings are respectable and generally considered excellent performance. This can also greatly affect the player’s chances and image throughout the season. 

What Does WHIP Tell Us?

There are 3 different types of WHIP: lower, average, and higher. Based on a pitcher’s performance during the overall season, the WHIP is calculated. These WHIP stats are shown to the general audience to inform them about the player’s performance.

Suppose the pitcher is outing players and not allowing them to reach base. The WHIP is lower. On the other hand, in case the WHIP is higher, this means the pitcher is not outing players and at the same time allowing them to reach base. 

This is considered a poor performance during a baseball season. A WHIP over 1.50 is generally considered a poor WHIP performance. On the other hand, a WHIP near 1.20 is respectable and genuinely considered a great WHIP performance. 

When was the whip invented?

The WHIP was first introduced in 1979 by a writer named Daniel Okrent. Daniel Okrent also invented the rotisserie fantasy baseball league. He was the first one who initially coined the phrase inning pitch ratio which later caught on as WHIP for “Walk and Hit per Inning Pitched.” 

One of the things to always remember here is that WHIP does not take into account the way a hitter reached base. This means it won’t matter if a hitter made a homerun or simply ran around the ground and reached base. 

However, as we know home runs are way worse than walks. However, when a hitter reaches base due to an error, fielders are not counted in WHIP. 

How to Calculate a Pitcher’s WHIP?

To calculate a pitcher’s WHIP, the number of total runs that he let other teams make is divided by the total number of pitched. The results are called WHIP (Walk and Hit Per Inning Pitched).

In other words, you can also say that the sum of all the pitcher’s walk and hits are divided by his total inning pitched. When a WHIP is near 1, it is called the best performance.

Anything below 1 WHIP is often called potential Cy Young Worthy. However, if the WHIP is over 1.5, its regarded as poor performance. Having a poor performance also affect the final results of a pitcher and their chances to get chosen for the next season. 

What is a Good WHIP in Baseball?

Now you guys are aware of what is WHIP, who invented WHIP, Why WHIPs are used, and What WHIP tells us. Now let’s talk about what are good WHIP in baseball.

Based on the data from recent years, the good WHIP is anywhere near 1.2 or below it. Any WHIP ratio lesser than 1 is often referred to as extraordinary. 

Let’s take a look at the table below for extra information:

What is the average WHIP in MLB?

When it comes to the average WHIP in Major League Baseball, the average WHIP changes quite much. 

Let’s take a look at the average WHIP for the last 4 years. 

Best WHIP Pitchers of All-Time

When it comes to the best WHIP pitchers of all time there are 2 different criteria. The first one is the best WHIP pitcher in a single season of all time. The second one has the best WHIP pitchers of all the lifetime. 

Let’s take a look at the top 5 WHIP pitchers of all the lifetime:

Now let’s take a look at the top 5 WHIP pitchers of all time:

How is WHIP Different from ERA?

When it comes to how WHIP is different from ERA, the major difference is how WHIP shows how many runs pitchers gave against their total inning. On the other hand, the total number of runs a pitcher gives up is referred to as ERA (earned run average). 

Despite the fact there is a big difference, both WHIP and ERA stats account for a pitcher’s performance in the game. Also, both ignore any errors and unearned runs. 

Who Came up with the WHIP Stat in Baseball?

It was Daniel Okrent who first introduced the WHIP stat in Baseball in the year 1979. He was also the person who first introduced the rotisserie fantasy baseball league. Daniel Okrent came up with the WHIP stat to help fantasy players come up with a way to create more efficient teams.

The term WHIP stat was first introduced as “Walk and Hit Per Inning Pitched”. This was later changed to WHIP as an acronym. This was done to simplify the use of a long sentence. This way people were able to understand WHIP much easily. 

Conclusion on WHIP

WHIP is one of the most common ways to understand a pitcher’s performance. This is one of the things that makes baseball beautiful and easy to understand for the audience. In addition to this, WHIP stats also help managers, coaches, general managers, and fantasy baseball owners build teams. The team performs well in the MLS.

However, remember that WHIP is only one of the small things that are considered while understanding and evaluating a pitcher’s performance. But it’s still one of the major stat. In addition to this, WHIP can also help you find hidden talents in your team who don’t get much recognition due to the name branding of other players.

Harry La

I am Harry La, CEO for BaseballHub.Net – a baseball website and I am also a Baseball Writer. I am responsible for the publication of such articles as game recaps and previews, player interviews, coaching updates, and in-depth previews of upcoming games or series.