Baseball is undoubtedly one of the most popular sports across the United States and Canada. The National League (NL) and the American League (AL) had previously been operating as two of the highest professional baseball leagues in the country. With the creation of Major League Baseball (MLB) in 2000, both leagues came under one organization and MLB continues to supervise all baseball games and actions.
All 30 teams in Major League Baseball have been divided among the National League and the American League. These teams compete with each other for the Division title in their respective leagues. They then compete in MLB's postseason in MLB to become the World Series Champion. These teams start the postseason with the Wild Card games and then move on to Division Series games and League Championship Series before they play in the World Series games. One team emerges from the MLB World Series games as the champion for the season.
Meaning of WHIP in baseball
WHIP stands for Walks and Hits Per Innings Pitched in MLB, as per the MLB official site. The term was first coined by Daniel Okrent, a writer notable for inventing rotisserie league fantasy baseball. It was initially called the Innings Pitched Ratio but later changed to Walks and Hits Per Innings Pitched.
WHIP is used to determine how well a pitcher can fulfill one of his main roles of keeping the runners off the basepath. It is determined by the sum of a pitcher’s walks and hits divided by the total innings he has pitched. Notably, pitchers with the lowest WHIPs are notable for being the best pitchers in the league as they can effectively keep the runners away from the basepath. WHIP is one of the most common ways to determine how well a pitcher can perform during games.
MLB players with the best WHIP in their career
The following table shows the players with the best WHIP in their career as per the MLB official site -
| Player Name | Position | Walks and Hits Per Innings Pitched (WHIP) |
| Addie Joss | Pitcher | 0.97 |
| Ed Walsh | Pitcher | 1.00 |
| Clayton Kershaw | Pitcher | 1.01 |
| John Ward | Shortstop | 1.04 |
| Pedro Martinez | Pitcher | 1.05 |
| Christy Matthewson | Pitcher | 1.06 |
| Walter Johnson | Pitcher | 1.06 |
| Mordecai Brown | Pitcher | 1.07 |
| Max Scherzer | Pitcher | 1.08 |
| Dave Brown | X | 1.08 |
| Tommy Bond | Pitcher | 1.09 |
| Babe Adams | Pitcher | 1.09 |
| Juan Marichal | Pitcher | 1.10 |
| George Bradley | Pitcher | 1.10 |
| Rube Waddell | Pitcher | 1.10 |
| Hilton Smith | Pitcher | 1.10 |
| Larry Corcoran | Pitcher | 1.10 |
| Deacon Phillippe | Pitcher | 1.11 |
| Sandy Koufax | Pitcher | 1.11 |
| Ed Morris | Pitcher | 1.11 |
| Satchel Paige | Pitcher | 1.11 |
| Will White | Pitcher | 1.11 |
| Chief Bender | Pitcher | 1.11 |
| Eddie Plank | Pitcher | 1.12 |
| Doc White | Pitcher | 1.12 |
WHIP in MLB FAQs
A. The player with the lowest WHIP in MLB history is Addie Ross.
A. The average WHIP in MLB is around 1.30.
A. Pitchers should have low WHIP to be considered the best.
A. WHIP is better than ERA because it helps to evaluate the performance of pitchers more effectively.
A. WHIP in baseball can be said to be walks plus hits per innings pitched.
