WHIP Meaning in Baseball

Over the past few decades, baseball statistics have moved far beyond just batting average and home runs. One stat that has become common when talking about pitchers is WHIP. Bownet® is here to explain the meaning of baseball WHIP and why it matters at all levels.

What Is WHIP in Baseball?

WHIP is an abbreviation for "walks and hits per innings pitched." To calculate the stat, you simply add the total number of hits and walks a pitcher has given up, then divide the result by the player's innings pitched. So if someone has given up 97 hits and 42 walks in 100 innings, their WHIP is (97+42)/100, or 1.39. The lower a pitcher's WHIP is, the better. Sportswriter Daniel Okrent, who's well-known for inventing fantasy baseball, also created the WHIP stat. He came up with it in 1979 and originally called it "innings pitched ratio". A WHIP of around 1 - in other words, roughly one combined hit and walk allowed per inning - will usually put a player among the Major League Baseball leaders for that season.

Why Is Baseball WHIP Important?

WHIP, along with ERA (earned run average), is considered one of the most effective metrics for evaluating pitchers. It's a good indicator of a pitcher's effectiveness because baserunners correlate to runs. The fewer baserunners you allow, the less runs you're likely to allow - and thus the more likely your team is to win. While originally considered an advanced analytics or "sabermetrics" stat, baseball WHIP has entered the mainstream in recent years. For example, it's used in many fantasy baseball leagues and is much easier to figure out than other sabermetric numbers. In some ways, WHIP is better than ERA, because it accounts for baserunners that ERA may not due to a previous error.

What Are the Limitations of WHIP?

Although WHIP is a great stat overall, like every metric, it has some limitations. Notably, it does not include hit batters. The reason for this is simple: when Okrent conceived WHIP, hit-by-pitch(HBP) numbers weren't listed in the Sunday newspaper box scores. WHIP also does not include baserunners who reached due to a fielder's choice, error, catcher's interference or dropped third strike - although most these runners generally aren't considered the pitcher's fault. A bigger drawback is that WHIP doesn't consider the different types of hits. With WHIP, a home run counts the same as a single, even though the homer is clearly worse to give up. As such, to get the clearest picture of how a pitcher is performing, you should look at WHIP in combination with other statistics such as ERA and strikeout-to-walk ratio.

We hope you've enjoyed this look at the meaning of WHIP in baseball. If a player or coach wants to work on lowering WHIP, shop at Bownet for the latest baseball training equipment. Tools such as our trainer baseballs, Zone Counter Attachment and Zone Extension Plate will help young hurlers #TrainLikeAPro.