What Is A Whip In Baseball?

Baseball is a fast and powerful sport in which the pitcher tries to toss the ball past the batter, who aims to hit it as far as possible for a home run. What about pitch velocity, though? The phrase “whip” refers to “Walks Plus Hits per Inning Pitched.” It’s a baseball statistic that measures a pitcher’s ability to keep base runners from reaching base.

WHIP stands for Walks plus hits divided by innings pitched. It is an estimate of the number of base runners a pitcher serves up over the course of a game or season. Read on to learn more.

What Is WHIP?

WHIP is an abbreviation for walks and hits per inning pitched. The WHIP statistic is calculated by dividing the number of walks and hits allowed by the number of innings pitched. A WHIP of 1.00 implies that a pitcher allows one base runner per inning, while a lower figure suggests that he has more control over his pitches (which means fewer baserunners).

What Is A Pitcher’s WHIP?

The WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) is a statistic that calculates how many walks and hits a pitcher allows each inning. This is computed by dividing the total number of walks and hits by the number of innings pitched. For example, if a pitcher allowed two walks and four hits in six innings, his or her WHIP would be 2/36, or 0.056.

Pitchers tend to have higher WHIPs than other players because they are often forced to throw more pitches, which increases their chances of walking batters or allowing them to reach base on an error.

How To Calculate WHIP

To calculate WHIP, you’ll first need to determine the number of walks and hits allowed by the pitcher.

• Hits: Hitters get credit for getting a hit when they reach base on an error, a single or a double, or if they are walked (balls in play) and advance as far as first base. All other times on base count as either walks or errors. For example, if there is a double play where two different players are out (e.g., one at second base and one at third), this counts as two outs for only one batter; it does not count as two hits against them.
• Walks: Walks are counted when batters reach first base after four balls were thrown in succession.
• Calculate your total number of hits allowed by multiplying strikeouts by three and dividing that result by nine (three strikeouts equals three outs multiplied by three pitches per out).
• Subtract this figure from your total number of batters faced in order to find how many batters actually reached safely while you were pitching—your H/9 rate.
• Divide this figure by 1/3 so that it is expressed in ERA-based terms instead of runs per game basis—that’s your WHIP-based Runs Per Game (WP/G).

To convert this into something useful like WHIP itself, multiply WP/G x 1.4

To simplify more

Assume Pitcher A finished the season with 60 walks, 275 hits, and 210 innings thrown. The pitcher wants to understand their season pitching statistics, therefore, they compute their WHIP.

335 (60 walks + 275 hits)

335 walks and 210 hits WHIP = 1.59 times the number of innings pitched

What Is A Good WHIP In Baseball?

A WHIP of 1.00 or lower is considered good, whereas a WHIP above 1.20 indicates the pitcher is giving up too many hits and is not pitching well.

What’s the average WHIP in baseball?

It varies on what level of play you’re looking at, but big leaguers have an average WHIP of roughly 1.18—not bad! Minor leaguers (those who never made it to the big leagues) have an average WHIP of around 0.97, which is substantially better than the major league figure!

Is WHIP A Reliable Predictor Of A Pitcher’s Success?

WHIP is a simple stat that can help you evaluate a pitcher’s performance. It measures the number of hits, walks, and strikeouts per inning pitched. The average WHIP for major league pitchers is right around 1.30, so if you see a player with a WHIP below that mark, their control of the ball is exceptional.

However, WHIP does not take into account other factors such as speed and skill that contribute to successful pitching. For example:

• A pitcher who throws 100 mph may be able to get batters out without striking them out because he throws so fast that they cannot catch up to his pitches. He will have fewer strikeouts than another pitcher but still, give up fewer runs overall because he has better control over where his pitches land in the strike zone (they go where he wants them).
• A slower-than-average pitcher might be able to get by on a good location alone. Even though they don’t have an abnormally high strikeout rate like someone throwing 100+ would (because it would be hard not to), they still limit their opponent’s offensive output. The key is to keep the ball, more often than not, within reach of home plate (or close enough so that runners can score).

Why Is WHIP Important?

The WHIP is a measure of how many pitches a pitcher gives up per inning. It’s also a means of counting the number of runners who reach base throughout an inning, but for our purposes, we’ll stick to the original meaning.

WHIP is an important stat because it helps you know whether or not your pitcher is keeping opponents from reaching base. If they do reach base, WHIP can also help you determine how quickly they get there (and if they’re likely to score).

Our Final Thoughts

WHIP is an important baseball number because it shows how frequently runners reach base against your pitching. WHIP is not a replacement for other figures like ERA and strikeouts, but it is a useful tool for determining how well your pitcher keeps the bases free. If you have any concerns regarding calculating WHIP or simply want additional information on the subject, please contact us! We’ll try our best to respond to them.