WHIP Calculator

165⅓ innings, 150 hits and 50 walks make a WHIP of 1.21

WHIP is the number of runners a pitcher lets on base per inning. The MLB glossary defines it as walks plus hits, divided by innings pitched. In a box score, the .1 and .2 at the end of an innings total are not decimals: they are 1 and 2 outs. So 165.1 innings is 165⅓ innings, or 496 outs. Counted in outs, the formula becomes (hits + walks) × 3 ÷ outs, and 150 hits plus 50 walks gives 200 × 3 ÷ 496 = 1.21.

A 1.21 is 0.09 below the 2026 MLB average of 1.30, and 26 of the 46 qualified MLB pitchers had a lower WHIP; one (Foster Griffin of the Cleveland Guardians) matched it at 1.21. The league average includes every reliever and every short outing, so it is a looser bar than the one starters face. The calculator above shows both yardsticks and also splits the total into hits and walks. In the bars, the dark part is the hits share and the light part is the walks share. The on-base map places each 2026 qualified pitcher of the league you pick by walks per 9 innings (horizontal) and hits per 9 (vertical).

Why look at WHIP

A pitcher who wants to give up fewer runs first has to put fewer runners on base. FanGraphs describes WHIP as an answer to a simple question: about how many baserunners does this pitcher allow per inning? Unlike ERA, which can swing on one bad defensive play or on the order in which runners came around, WHIP counts individual events (a hit, a walk), so it is less affected by those sequences. It is also quick to work out from a box score. Typical uses:

• Comparing starters: two pitchers with a similar ERA may differ in WHIP. The lower WHIP usually means fewer runners and fewer tight spots.
• Fantasy baseball: the stat was coined in 1979 by Daniel Okrent, the writer who invented rotisserie fantasy baseball. He first called it "innings pitched ratio", and it became a standard category in fantasy leagues.
• Reading a broadcast or stat page: you can tell at a glance where a 1.05 WHIP sits in the league.
• Telling pitcher types apart: the same WHIP can come from a pitcher who allows many hits or one who issues many walks. The map shows the difference.

How to use the calculator

1. Pick the league to compare with. MLB is selected by default. Tapping KBO or NPB changes the league average, the qualified median and the map to that league's 2026 regular season.
2. Enter innings pitched as printed in the box score. Type 6.1, 6.2 or 165.1. For several games, join them with +, like 6.2+7+5.1, and enter hits and walks the same way, like 5+3+7.
3. Enter hits and walks. The walks (BB) total already includes intentional walks. Do not add hit batters.
4. Read the result. The line under the big number splits WHIP into hits plus walks. The verdict sentences compare you with the league average, with the qualified pitchers, and with the league's hits and walks per 9 innings.
5. Try a target WHIP. For a target below your current number, you see how many more innings without a runner it would take. For a higher target, you see how many more runners you could allow. You can copy the result or a link that holds the values you entered.

How WHIP is calculated

One inning is three outs. According to the MLB glossary, each out counts as one-third of an inning, outs on pickoffs and caught stealing count for the pitcher, a double play is two-thirds of an inning, and a batter who reaches on an error records no out. The .1 and .2 in a box score are shorthand for ⅓ and ⅔, so the safest way to calculate is to convert innings into outs first.

• WHIP = (hits + walks) ÷ innings pitched
• Innings pitched = outs ÷ 3 (6.2 innings = 6⅔ innings = 20 outs)
• So WHIP = (hits + walks) × 3 ÷ outs

Rounding ⅓ to 0.33 throws the result off. Three runners over 0.33 innings gives 9.09, but the real WHIP is 3 ÷ ⅓ = 9.00. Do not round along the way: calculate from outs and round only the final answer to two decimals.

Several games: add first, divide once

A season WHIP is not the average of game WHIPs. Games differ in length, so add up hits, walks and innings separately, then divide once.

In the calculator, enter 1+9 for innings and 2+9 for hits; the tool adds them first and puts "sum of 2 games" at the end of the formula line.

League average WHIP (2025 and 2026 regular seasons)

These figures come from adding up every pitcher on every team in each league, relievers and short outings included.

All three leagues were higher in 2026 than in 2025. KBO rose the most, from 1.40 to 1.46, with both hits (9.04 to 9.36 per 9) and walks (3.61 to 3.75) up. In MLB and NPB, hits per 9 dipped slightly but walks rose, and WHIP went up by 0.01 in each. So a 1.30 is a better-than-average mark in the 2026 KBO and a worse-than-average one in NPB. In MLB, it is the average.

Qualified pitchers set a tougher bar

To qualify, a pitcher needs one inning per team game: 162 in MLB, 144 in KBO and 143 in NPB. These are starters trusted with long outings, so their WHIP sits below the league average. In 2026 MLB, five qualified pitchers finished under 1.00, led by Misiorowski at 0.80 and Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers at 0.87 (185 IP, 119 hits, 42 walks). NPB had six. KBO had none, and its lowest, Gwak Been, was at 1.04.

The same WHIP can come from different routes

WHIP adds a hits share and a walks share, so many mixes end up at the same total. Two 2026 MLB starters at 1.10 show it well.

Imanaga walked only 1.91 batters per 9 innings but allowed 7.95 hits. Cease allowed just 5.75 hits and walked 4.15. Their WHIP is identical, yet the two sit far apart on the on-base map. The diagonal lines connect points with the same WHIP. Moving toward the lower right means more walks, and moving toward the upper left means more hits. In the 2026 KBO, Ko Young Pyo (KT Wiz) and Adam Oller (KIA Tigers) are a similar pair at 1.08: 8.55 hits and 1.15 walks per 9 for Ko, 6.57 and 3.13 for Oller.

This matters because hits and walks are not equally the pitcher's doing. FanGraphs notes that walks are mostly the pitcher's responsibility, while hits are shared with the defense: home runs are on the pitcher, and singles are shared. Sample size points the same way. Using the cut points FanGraphs cites from Russell Carleton, a pitcher's walk rate stabilizes after about 170 batters faced, but batting average against needs about 630. A WHIP built mostly from hits can therefore move more from one season to the next, depending on defense and luck.

What counts as a good WHIP

In 2010, FanGraphs Library published the rule-of-thumb chart below, with a note that it is only an estimate because league-average WHIP changes from year to year, and that the league average for every year since 1901 is in the FanGraphs leaderboards.

The 2026 MLB average of 1.30 is exactly "Average" on this chart. The 2026 KBO average of 1.46 falls between Below Average and Poor, but that reflects the run environment, not weak pitchers. For that reason the calculator keeps the chart on a side line only, and bases its verdict on the selected league's 2026 average and its qualified pitchers. A value between two points on the chart is read as "between Above Average 1.20 and Average 1.30", for example. A WHIP of 1.15 falls between Great and Above Average, and 1.29 is just under Average.

Lowest WHIP in MLB history

The single-season leader, George Walker in 1940, pitched only 52 innings. Among seasons of 200 or more innings, Pedro Martínez in 2000 is the lowest, and only Walker ranks above him overall. Kenta Maeda's 2020 came in a season of just 60 games per team. The career list is limited to pitchers with at least 1,000 innings. The "Pedro 2000" example chip lets you compare that season with the 2026 league.

Common mistakes

• Dividing by 6.1 instead of 6⅓: 6.1 innings is 6⅓. Seven runners over 6.1 gives 1.15, but the real WHIP is 7 ÷ 6⅓ = 1.11.
• Averaging game WHIPs: averaging games of different lengths gives short outings too much weight. Add the totals, then divide.
• Adding hit batters: a hit by pitch puts a runner on, but it is not part of WHIP. To include it, look at opponent on-base percentage instead.
• Adding intentional walks again: the BB total already includes them. If 1 of 3 walks was intentional, enter 3.
• Rounding ⅓ to 0.33: the shorter the outing, the bigger the error. Work in outs.
• Calculating a 0-inning line: a pitcher who left without recording an out has no innings to divide by, so WHIP is undefined even if runners reached.

Limits of WHIP

• A home run, a single and a walk each count as one runner. WHIP does not show how hard the hits were, so read it together with home runs allowed and slugging against.
• Hits mix pitching with defense and luck. The same pitcher can post a lower WHIP in front of a better defense.
• The denominator is innings, not batters faced. FanGraphs points to opponent OBP as a better measure of baserunners allowed, and to opponent wOBA when you want the value of each type of event.
• Small samples swing widely. Opponent OBP, the stat closest to WHIP, settles at about 540 batters faced (FanGraphs, Russell Carleton cut points). The calculator estimates batters faced as outs plus runners and warns you below that.
• There is no park, league or season adjustment. Pitchers in a hitter-friendly park or league show higher numbers, so compare within the same league and year.
• League averages and qualified lists are official regular-season records for 2026. Postseason games are not included.

As of: the formula and explanations were checked on 2026-10-23 against the MLB glossary, FanGraphs Library and Baseball-Reference. League averages and qualified pitchers were computed from the official 2026 regular-season records of the KBO and NPB record sites and the MLB Stats API (downloaded 2026-10-21), and from the 2025 regular-season records (downloaded 2026-10-23).

Sources

• 01MLB Glossary — Walks And Hits Per Inning Pitched (WHIP)Definition (walks plus hits divided by innings), hit batters, errors and fielder's choice excluded, Daniel Okrent's 1979 "innings pitched ratio"
• 02MLB Glossary — Innings Pitched (IP)One out = ⅓ inning, pickoffs and caught stealing count, double play = ⅔, a reach on error is not an out
• 03MLB Glossary — Walk (BB)Four balls and first base, scored BB; intentional walks are included
• 04FanGraphs Library — WHIPPiper Slowinski (2010-02-17): baserunners per inning, rule-of-thumb chart 1.00 to 1.60, hits shared with the defense, opponent OBP and wOBA recommended
• 05FanGraphs Library — Sample SizeRussell Carleton cut points: pitcher OBP against 540 batters faced, average against 630, walk rate 170
• 06KBO Record Room — Team pitching2026 regular season, 10 teams: 13,277 hits, 5,319 walks, 12,760⅔ IP (matches the total row); 2025 from the same table: 12,824 · 5,123 · 12,773⅔ IP
• 07KBO Record Room — Player pitchingInnings, hits and walks of the 18 pitchers on the default 2026 regular-season list (WHIP matches the table)
• 08MLB Stats API — 2026 team pitching30 teams: 39,849 hits, 16,337 walks, 43,079⅔ IP; 2025 with season=2025: 40,138 · 15,379 · 43,075 IP; the 46 qualified pitchers come from the qualified list of the same API
• 09NPB — 2026 Central League team pitchingWith the Pacific League page (tmp_p.html), 12 teams: 13,742 hits, 4,841 walks, 15,276 IP; 2025 from the 2025 page of the same address (web archive, 2025-12): 14,053 · 4,559 · 15,392⅓ IP
• 10NPB — 2026 Central League individual pitching (qualified innings)With the Pacific League page (pit_p.html), 22 pitchers
• 11Baseball-Reference — Single-Season Leaders for WHIPRanks 1 to 5 (checked 2026-10-23); recent seasons use one inning per team game
• 12Baseball-Reference — Career Leaders for WHIPRanks 1 to 5; career rate stats need 1,000 innings
• 13MLB Stats API — Pedro Martínez year-by-year pitching2000: 217 IP, 128 hits, 32 walks (the "Pedro 2000" example)

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