IntermediateHitting · Pitching
Whiff%
Whiff Rate
Of the pitches a hitter swings at, the share he misses completely.
25.1%2026 MLB average (2025: 25.3%)
Simple explanation
The key is the denominator: swings, not pitches. Swing ten times and miss three, and the whiff rate is 30%. Pitches he just watches don't count at all.
For a pitcher, it shows how hard his stuff is to hit. For a hitter, how often he connects when he does swing. Pitchers and hitters with lots of strikeouts usually have high numbers here first.
Benchmarks
- 15.3%
- Top 10%
- 23.9%
- Median
- 32.4%
- Bottom 10%
From the hitter's side; for pitchers, higher is better. Distribution of the 135 qualified hitters in 2026.
Detailed explanation
Whiff% = swinging misses ÷ swings
- swings
- misses, fouls and balls in play added together
SwStr%, a FanGraphs favorite, divides swinging strikes by all pitches. The names get mixed up all the time, but the scales are different: FanGraphs' rule-of-thumb average for SwStr% is 9.5%, while the 2026 Savant average whiff rate was 25.1%.
A high whiff rate doesn't automatically make a bad hitter. Big swingers accept the misses in exchange for driving the ball when they connect.
On the pitching side it's usually broken out by pitch type. The same pitcher's slider and four-seamer can have very different whiff rates.