Follow the Leaders (7/8): FIP

The selected stat for today’s edition of Follow the Leaders is Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP). As an added bonus, I included the Triple-A leaders in both the Pacific Coast and International Leagues.

If you aren’t familiar with FIP, The Hardball Times has an excellent definition in their glossary:

Fielding Independent Pitching, a measure of all those things for which a pitcher is specifically responsible. The formula is (HR*13+(BB+HBP-IBB)*3-K*2)/IP, plus a league-specific factor (usually around 3.2) to round out the number to an equivalent ERA number. FIP helps you understand how well a pitcher pitched, regardless of how well his fielders fielded. FIP was invented by Tangotiger (Tom Tango).

To read more about FIP, you can check out a January 2009 FanGraphs article by Dave Cameron by clicking here.  There is also an excellent 2-part article on FIP that you can read over on 3-D Baseball.

(leaders after the jump)

American League

2.09  Francisco Liriano (MIN)
2.22  Cliff Lee (SEA)
2.92  Jon Lester (BOS)
3.04  Jered Weaver (ANA)
3.19  Felix Hernandez (SEA)

National League

2.33  Josh Johnson (FLA)
2.88  Roy Halladay (PHI)
2.99  Yovani Gallardo (MIL)
3.04  Tim Lincecum (SF)
3.07  Adam Wainwright (STL)

Pacific Coast League (AAA)

3.40  Alan Johnson (COL)
3.41  Matt Yourkin (SF)
3.73  Tim Corcoran (LAD)
3.77  Madison Bumgarner (SF)
3.86  Andy Van Hekken (HOU)

International League (AAA)

2.67  Jeremy Hellickson (TB)
2.81  Chris Resop (ATL)
3.18  Matt Maloney (CIN)
3.25  Travis Wood (CIN)
3.32  Michael Crotta (PIT)

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Tags: Adam Wainwright, Cliff Lee, Felix Hernandez, Francisco Liriano, Jered Weaver, Jon Lester, Josh Johnson, Roy Halladay, Tim Lincecum, Yovani Gallardo