K/BB ratio or WHIP?

[tribefan08]

my leauge has used whip for years, the commish is asking about changing it to walk ratio?

I am not sure on this switch, I want to know what you guys think?

and does it take a guy like Dice-K and totally devalue him?

we have 10 pitching cats and 10 hitting cats, Yahoo H2H

WHIR

[RDD15]

WHIP for sure. K ratio devalues anyone that is not a strikeout pitcher. If you have K's as a category, and WHIP as a category, you already reward people for their K ratio indirectly.

[flloyd]

I'm definitely a non-traditionalist when it comes to fantasy categories but I still prefer WHIP over K/BB for a few reasons.

1. As noted above K pitchers are already rewarded for their high K's with Ks as a category.

2. As noted in some existing research, K/B ratio is not a linear ratio with respect to its impact on ERA or pitcher effectiveness. What I mean by that is that two pitchers, one with a 10K/5BB per 9 innings and another with 2K/1BB per 9 innings will both have a 2:1 K/BB ratio. However, all other factors being equal, the 10K/5BB pitcher will be more effective and have a lower ERA. This is because each K has a greater positive impact on run prevention than each BB has a negative impact.

So using K/BB ratio would reward a pitcher with 2K/1BB more than a pitcher with 9K/5BB even the the latter is a better pitcher.

3. Finally WHIP is a fairly flawed stat since it is highly dependent on luck and defense. However more sabermetrically minded managers can use this to their advantage by selecting players who are currently experiencing bad BABIP luck, players who move to better defensive teams (or whose team defense was improved in the offseason such as the 2008 Rays/2009 Mariners), etc. This knowledge can give you a leg up on more ignorant league mates.

[Trojan Pony]

^ Agreed. I've considered K/BB in the past in my own leagues, but stuck with WHIP for more or less the same reasons.

[tribefan08]

thanks guys, great points, i posted this on my league board, don't know what good its gonna do since they commish, myself, and two other guys are the only ones checking in our 12 teamer right now! he's basing the decision on 2 yes's and one NO and another I DONT CARE LOL

not good, we'll see what happens..... great points tho