Fantasy Baseball: 2009 xFIP Leaders and Some Bounce Back Candidates for 2010

Recently, Fangraphs has teamed up with The Hardball Times to include the THT pitching stat called Expected Fielding Independent Pitching, or xFIP.

xFIP is Expected Fielding Independent Pitching. This is an experimental stat that adjusts and “normalizes” the home run component. Research has shown that home runs allowed are pretty much a function of flyballs allowed and home park, so xFIP is based on the average number of home runs allowed per outfield fly. <strong>Theoretically, this should be a better predicter of a pitcher’s future ERA</strong>

With that said, here are the 2009 xFIP leaders: