Baseball, one of America’s oldest and most beloved sports, is more than just a game; it is a complex study of strategy, skill, and statistics. Among the cornucopia of statistics used to analyze baseball, one particular metric stands out for its unique approach to measuring a pitcher’s effectiveness – Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP). So, in the realm of baseball analytics, what is FIP?
The Concept of FIP in Baseball
Fielding Independent Pitching, or FIP, is a baseball statistic developed to gauge a pitcher’s performance, independent of the quality of defense behind him. Traditionally, baseball relied heavily on metrics like Earned Run Average (ERA) to evaluate pitchers, but ERA often includes elements, such as fielding errors and defensive play quality, over which a pitcher has no control.