List of Major League Baseball career FIP leaders explained

In baseball statistics, fielding independent pitching (FIP) is the measure of a pitcher's effectiveness based only on statistics that do not involve fielders (except the catcher). These include home runs allowed, strikeouts, hit batters, walks, and, more recently, fly ball percentage, ground ball percentage, and (to a much lesser extent) line drive percentage. It is considered to be a more accurate reflection of a pitcher's performance than earned run average.

This is a list of the top 100 leaders in career FIP, who have thrown at least 1,000 innings.

Hall of Fame pitcher Ed Walsh holds the major league record for lowest career FIP, with 2.018.^{[1] [2]}

Key

Rank	Rank amongst leaders in career earned run average. A blank field indicates a tie.
Player	Name of player.
FIP	Total career fielding independent pitching.
	Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Bold	Denotes an active player.^[3]

List

• Stats updated as of the end of the 2024 season.

Rank	Player	FIP
1	Ed Walsh	2.018
2	Rube Waddell	2.033
3	Satchel Paige	2.188
4	Addie Joss	2.188
5	Smoky Joe Wood	2.256
6	Christy Mathewson	2.263
7	Chief Bender	2.294
8	Jack Pfiester	2.322
9	Jim Devlin	2.325
10	Tommy Bond	2.337
11	Reb Russell	2.357
12	Walter Johnson	2.377
13	Orval Overall	2.385
14	Mordecai Brown	2.414
15	John Montgomery Ward	2.427
16	Fred Glade	2.445
17	Eddie Plank	2.448
18	Cy Falkenberg	2.492
19		2.509
20	Doc White	2.511
21	Terry Larkin	2.517
22	Frank Smith	2.524
23	Joe Lake	2.530
24	Irv Young	2.536
25	Red Ames	2.537
26	Ray Collins	2.539
27	Eddie Cicotte	2.543
28	Bob Ewing	2.553
29	Nick Altrock	2.556
30	Charlie Smith	2.558
31	Hooks Wiltse	2.559
32	Andy Coakley	2.583
33	George McQuillan	2.584
34	Jacob deGrom	2.590
35	George Bradley	2.592
36	Deacon Phillippe	2.595
37	Nap Rucker	2.597
38	Hippo Vaughn	2.626
39	Jim Scott	2.628
40	Joe Benz	2.634
41	Ed Karger	2.646
42	George Bell	2.649
43	Noodles Hahn	2.654
44	Candy Cummings	2.661
45	Doc Ayers	2.670
46	Jack Chesbro	2.674
47	Frank Corridon	2.684
48	Sandy Koufax	2.687
49	Dave Davenport	2.700
50	Harry Coveleski	2.702

Rank	Player	FIP
	Bobby Mathews	2.702
52	Babe Adams	2.704
	Frank Owen	2.704
	Al Spalding	2.704
55	Bullet Rogan	2.705
56	Willie Mitchell	2.710
57	Bob Wicker	2.712
58	Lee Richmond	2.725
59	Bill Byrd	2.726
60	Cherokee Fisher	2.729
61	Jim Whitney	2.746
62		2.749
	Claude Hendrix	2.749
64	Sam Weaver	2.752
65	Bob Veale	2.759
66	Mariano Rivera	2.764
67	Bill Donovan	2.766
68	Nick Cullop	2.770
69	Dutch Leonard	2.771
70		2.787
71	Johnny Lush	2.791
72	Jeff Tesreau	2.792
73	Gene Packard	2.794
74	Fred Beebe	2.801
	Ed Killian	2.801
76	Babe Ruth	2.806
77	Jake Weimer	2.814
78	George Winter	2.816
79	Grover Cleveland Alexander	2.818
80	Ed Siever	2.819
81	Clayton Kershaw	2.825
82	Bob Groom	2.826
83	Barney Pelty	2.827
84	Russ Ford	2.838
85	Sam Leever	2.840
86	George Zettlein	2.842
87	Ed Reulbach	2.844
	Cy Young	2.844
89	Tom Hughes	2.845
90	Toad Ramsey	2.853
91	Pat Ragan	2.855
92	Howie Camnitz	2.857
	J. R. Richard	2.857
94	Carl Weilman	2.860
95	Jesse Tannehill	2.863
96	Slim Sallee	2.871
97	Jim McCormick	2.875
98	Bill Bernhard	2.877
	Bob Rhoads	2.877
100	Bill Foster	2.881

External links

• Web site: Career Leaders & Records for Fielding Independent Pitching. Baseball-Reference.com.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Ed Walsh Career Stats. Baseball Reference. July 28, 2021.
2. Web site: Ed Walsh Bio. Dziurgot. Stanley. Society For American Baseball Research. July 28, 2021.
3. A player is considered inactive if he has announced his retirement or not played for a full season.