Stat corner: Fielding independent pitching (FIP)

Fielding independent pitching, or FIP, is a stat that focuses only on the events a pitcher has the most control over -- strikeouts, unintentional walks, hit-by-pitches and home runs. It is used often by fantasy baseball players to predict who will improve for one year to the next. If a pitcher’s FIP is much higher than his ERA, then he was probably a bit lucky that season, and his ERA will go up the following year. If a pitcher’s FIP is much lower, the reverse is true. Most baseball front office executives will give equal weight to FIP and ERA when determining whether to acquire a pitcher.

Here are the 20 best pitchers since 1950, according to FIP (minimum 1,000 innings pitched). The player’s ERA is in parentheses:

1. Clayton Kershaw, 2.61 (2.37)

2. Sandy Koufax, 2.69 (2.76)

3. Mariano Rivera, 2.76 (2.21)

4. Bob Veale, 2.77 (3.07)

5. J.R. Richard, 2.86 (3.15)

6. Stephen Strasburg, 2.88 (3.10)

7. Chris Sale, 2.89 (2.92)

8. Bob Gibson, 2.89 (2.91)

9. Pedro Martinez, 2.91 (2.93)

10. Lee Smith, 2.93 (3.03)

11. Bruce Sutter, 2.94 (2.83)

12. Bob Moose, 2.95 (3.50)

13. Rollie Fingers, 2.96 (2.90)

14. Dean Chance, 2.97 (2.92)

15. Nolan Ryan, 2.98 (3.19)

16. Corey Kluber, 2.99 (3.09)

17. Don Drysdale, 3.02 (2.95)

18. Tom Seaver, 3.04 (2.86)

19. Juan Marichal, 3.05 (2.89)

20. Jon Matlack, 3.06 (3.18)