FantasyPros has put together a glossary of sabermetrics statistics for readers to reference. Deeper statistical analysis is being used by fantasy players more and more in daily and season-long leagues. We’re providing the glossary so that you can easily reference what the stats we use in our articles refer to and how they should be used for fantasy baseball purposes. Below we’ll take a look at K:BB ratio.

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Strikeouts to walk ratio (K:BB) is a very simple statistic to understand, and is becoming more commonly recognized as a method of showing the dominance of a pitcher. Simply put, it is the total strikeouts divided by the total walks, expressed as a ratio. For reference, an average K:BB ratio is 2.15.

This is becoming a major fantasy statistic, with many fantasy leagues adopting K:BB as a weekly category. For reference, 12 of the top 25 all-time strikeout-to-walk ratios have been registered since 2000, and Phil Hughes set the MLB record for best K:BB in 2014. Hughes struck out 186 batters and walked only 16 to record a 11.62 K:BB ratio. This ratio was better than Brett Saberhagen had in his 1994 season (11.00). Many fantasy commissioners like K:BB ratio as a statistic because it shows the control and domination of a pitcher. In the 12 seasons mentioned above, the worst ERA for any of the pitchers listed was 3.52, by Hughes in 2014 and Carlos Silva in 2005. There are six active pitchers with a K:BB ratio over 3.5 for their career (Dan Haren, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, James Shields, Zack Greinke, and David Price) and 11 more with a K:BB over 3.0. Curt Schilling has the modern record for career K:BB at 4.38, and Bartolo Colon leads baseball in 2015 with 25 strikeouts to one walk for a gaudy 25.0 ratio.

Chris Zolli is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Chris, check out his archive and follow him @thezman2010.