There are discrepancies in many stats . A reliever ' s career ERA , when compared to other relievers , is still the best measuring stick as far as I am concerned. No system is perfect . WHIP concerns the number of base runners. But those base runners only matter if and when they score . A guy who goes one inning and gives up a single and a walk , then strikes out the side , has an ERA of 0.00 and a WHIP of 2 . A guy who goes one inning and gives up a home run , then strikes out the side , has an ERA of 9.00 and a WHIP of 1 . Which one did a better job ?