Lauber: John Farrell considers stat key to Cy Young race

Ready-WHIP: ConAggregate Food for thought.

But when it comes to taking a crack at dissecting the Cy Young race, Sox pitching coach John Farrell prefers to look at WHIP.

To Farrell, WHIP - a statistic that measures walks and hits per innings pitched - is the truest measure of a pitcher’s excellence. Once again, Hernandez (1.063 WHIP) has the edge over the Oakland Athletics’ Trevor Cahill (1.066), the Los Angeles Angels’ Jered Weaver (1.073), Red Sox [team stats] lefty Jon Lester (1.157), Sabathia (1.212), Tampa Bay Rays lefty David Price (1.217) and Red Sox right-hander Clay Buchholz (1.225).

“I think, if you were given one (statistic) to surmise what a guy’s performance has been, WHIP probably sums it up the best,” Farrell said before last night’s loss. “But it’s hard to say one is more important than others. There’s a lot to be said for innings pitched, and yet our starters are never going to be in the league lead because we don’t skip our fifth starter. So, a lot of that is out of their control.”