WHIP stands for Walks plus Hits per Innings Pitched. It’s calculated by adding a pitcher’s total walks and hits allowed, then dividing by total innings pitched. A WHIP under 1.00 is considered elite. The MLB league average sits around 1.30. The all-time career record belongs to Addie Joss at 0.9678 (1902-1910), while Jacob deGrom holds the modern-era career mark at 0.9867. Pedro Martinez’s 2000 season produced the lowest single-season WHIP in MLB history at 0.7373 — a number considered virtually unbreakable. Here’s how WHIP works, what makes it useful, and every all-time leader in the stat’s century-plus history.
Contents
How to calculate WHIP
The formula is simple: WHIP = (Walks + Hits) ÷ Innings Pitched. If a pitcher throws 200 innings, allows 180 hits and 50 walks, their WHIP is 230 ÷ 200 = 1.150. For a single game outing of 7 innings with 5 hits and 2 walks, WHIP is 7 ÷ 7 = 1.000. The formula treats all baserunners equally — a leadoff walk counts the same as a fluke infield single. Intentional walks do count toward WHIP, but hit-by-pitches do not (HBP is tracked separately). Errors don’t count either — WHIP is meant to measure what the pitcher controls, not what the defense gives up. That’s why it’s considered one of the most “fair” pitching stats compared to wins or ERA, which can be affected by run support and fielder mistakes.
What’s a good WHIP
A WHIP under 1.00 means the pitcher allows less than one baserunner per inning — elite territory. Only a handful of pitchers in MLB history have sustained this over a full career. A WHIP between 1.00 and 1.20 is excellent and what you’d expect from an ace starter or top closer. A WHIP of 1.20-1.30 is solid mid-rotation territory. The MLB league average WHIP has hovered around 1.30 for the past two decades. Anything over 1.40 is considered below-average, and over 1.50 is poor. For comparison: in 2023, the MLB-wide WHIP was 1.31. The best qualifying starter in any given season usually posts a WHIP between 0.95 and 1.05.
WHIP vs. ERA — which matters more
WHIP and ERA measure related but different things. ERA shows how many earned runs a pitcher gives up per 9 innings. WHIP shows how many baserunners they allow per inning. ERA reflects results; WHIP reflects process. A pitcher can have a low ERA with a high WHIP if they’re great at pitching out of jams with runners on base — but that’s usually not sustainable. Over a full career, pitchers with the lowest career WHIPs almost always have the lowest career ERAs. The exception: high-leverage relievers like Mariano Rivera, whose career WHIP (1.0003) and ERA (2.21) both ranked among the best ever because of his consistency in short outings. WHIP is more predictive year-over-year than ERA, which is why it’s prominent in fantasy baseball’s 5×5 standard category set.
Modern WHIP dominance — the Jacob deGrom era
Jacob deGrom’s career WHIP of 0.9867 ranks second all-time, behind only Addie Joss’s 0.9678 (set in the dead-ball era when batters rarely walked or hit for power). When healthy, deGrom is the best WHIP pitcher of the modern era — his 2018 season (0.912 WHIP, 269 strikeouts, 1.70 ERA) was one of the most dominant single-season performances in recent memory. Clayton Kershaw (1.0177) and Chris Sale (1.0451) also rank in the all-time top 10. The current MLB environment makes sub-1.00 WHIPs harder than ever because hitter strikeout rates are at historic highs but so are walks (modern hitters work counts deeper than past eras). For more context on modern pitching dominance, see our guides on the fastest pitches in MLB history and how the MLB pitch clock changed the game.
— Drew, Legion Report