Between the 1920 and 2021 seasons, Clayton Kershaw had the fewest total batters faced per inning pitched when pitching at least 903 innings, with 3.94.

Interpreted as:

lowest tbf/ip by a player (ip >=903) 1920 to 2021

	NAME	TBF/IP	IP	TBF	G	W	L	W%	GS	ERA	SO	CG	SHO	SV	H	ER	R	HR	BB	HBP	GF	IBB	WP	K/9	BB/9	K/BB	HR/9	K%	BB%	WHIP	BABIP	RA	ERA-	FIP	FIP-	H/9	PRAA
1	Clayton Kershaw C. Kershaw	3.94	2454.2	9,667	379	185	84	.688	376	2.49	2,670	25	15	0	1,859	679	741	196	606	37	1	27	95	9.79	2.22	4.41	0.72	27.6	6.3	1.00	.270	2.72	64	2.76	69	6.82	338
2	Jacob deGrom J. deGrom	3.95	1261.2	4,978	198	77	53	.592	198	2.50	1,505	4	2	0	981	350	385	108	295	21	0	13	26	10.74	2.10	5.10	0.77	30.2	5.9	1.01	.286	2.75	64	2.63	65	7.00	203.1
3	Mariano Rivera M. Rivera	3.98	1283.2	5,103	1,115	82	60	.577	10	2.21	1,173	0	0	652	998	315	340	71	286	46	952	41	13	8.22	2.01	4.10	0.50	23.0	5.6	1.00	.263	2.38	49	2.76	61	7.00	246.7
4	Billy Wagner B. Wagner	3.99	903.0	3,600	853	47	40	.540	0	2.31	1,196	0	0	422	601	232	262	82	300	33	703	26	43	11.92	2.99	3.99	0.82	33.2	8.3	1.00	.261	2.61	54	2.72	63	5.99	159
5	Chris Sale C. Sale	4.02	1672.1	6,727	321	114	74	.606	241	3.03	2,059	16	3	12	1,357	563	609	178	386	102	25	15	38	11.08	2.08	5.33	0.96	30.6	5.7	1.04	.295	3.28	71	2.92	69	7.30	238.7
6	Trevor Hoffman T. Hoffman	4.03	1089.1	4,388	1,035	61	75	.449	0	2.87	1,133	0	0	601	846	347	378	100	307	9	856	58	49	9.36	2.54	3.69	0.83	25.8	7.0	1.06	.263	3.12	71	3.07	73	6.99	143.1
7	Pedro Martinez P. Martinez	4.03	2827.1	11,394	476	219	100	.687	409	2.93	3,154	46	17	3	2,221	919	1,006	239	760	141	23	30	62	10.04	2.42	4.15	0.76	27.7	6.7	1.05	.279	3.20	66	2.91	68	7.07	454.6
8	Corey Kluber C. Kluber	4.04	1422.2	5,742	225	103	61	.628	220	3.19	1,544	18	8	0	1,239	505	555	140	326	51	3	9	28	9.77	2.06	4.74	0.89	26.9	5.7	1.10	.299	3.51	76	3.03	73	7.84	174.7
9	Dick Hall D. Hall	4.04	1259.2	5,085	495	93	75	.554	74	3.32	741	20	3	71	1,152	464	512	130	236	18	237	70	1	5.29	1.69	3.14	0.93	14.6	4.6	1.10	.258	3.66	91	3.29	88	8.23	63.7
10	Gerrit Cole G. Cole	4.04	1449.1	5,857	234	117	63	.650	234	3.20	1,673	6	3	0	1,238	515	557	153	373	46	0	6	52	10.39	2.32	4.49	0.95	28.6	6.4	1.11	.300	3.46	79	3.08	75	7.69	168.1
11	Max Scherzer M. Scherzer	4.05	2536.2	10,266	407	190	97	.662	398	3.16	3,020	12	5	0	2,072	890	959	287	677	96	2	20	73	10.71	2.40	4.46	1.02	29.4	6.6	1.08	.289	3.40	76	3.12	75	7.35	288.2
12	Tom Seaver T. Seaver	4.05	4783.0	19,369	656	311	205	.603	647	2.86	3,640	231	61	1	3,971	1,521	1,674	380	1,390	76	6	116	126	6.85	2.62	2.62	0.72	18.8	7.2	1.12	.259	3.15	79	3.03	85	7.47	286.1
13	Tiny Bonham T. Bonham	4.05	1551.0	6,284	231	103	72	.589	193	3.06	478	110	21	9	1,501	528	580	117	287	9	27		4	2.77	1.67	1.67	0.68	7.6	4.6	1.15	.257	3.37	83	3.46	94	8.71	37.9
14	Stephen Strasburg S. Strasburg	4.05	1465.1	5,939	246	113	61	.649	246	3.21	1,718	2	2	0	1,209	523	575	148	392	52	0	20	43	10.55	2.41	4.38	0.91	28.9	6.6	1.09	.292	3.53	80	3.00	75	7.43	166.7
15	Juan Marichal J. Marichal	4.06	3507.0	14,236	471	243	142	.631	457	2.89	2,303	244	52	2	3,153	1,126	1,329	320	709	40	11	82	51	5.91	1.82	3.25	0.82	16.2	5.0	1.10	.261	3.41	81	3.04	88	8.09	154.8
16	Hoyt Wilhelm H. Wilhelm	4.07	2254.1	9,164	1,070	143	122	.540	52	2.52	1,610	20	5	228	1,757	632	773	150	778	62	651	61	90	6.43	3.11	2.07	0.60	17.6	8.5	1.12	.245	3.09	68	3.06	82	7.01	167.6
17	Bret Saberhagen B. Saberhagen	4.07	2562.2	10,421	399	167	117	.588	371	3.34	1,715	76	16	1	2,452	952	1,036	218	471	59	13	34	53	6.02	1.65	3.64	0.77	16.5	4.5	1.14	.281	3.64	80	3.26	80	8.61	225.4
18	Catfish Hunter C. Hunter	4.07	3449.1	14,032	500	224	166	.574	476	3.26	2,012	181	42	1	2,958	1,248	1,380	374	954	49	6	57	49	5.25	2.49	2.11	0.98	14.3	6.8	1.13	.243	3.60	95	3.66	103	7.72	-51.5
19	Dan Quisenberry D. Quisenberry	4.07	1043.1	4,247	674	56	46	.549	0	2.76	379	0	0	244	1,064	320	356	59	162	7	553	70	4	3.27	1.40	2.34	0.51	8.9	3.8	1.18	.276	3.07	69	3.23	82	9.18	81.6
20	Curt Schilling C. Schilling	4.07	3261.0	13,284	569	216	146	.597	436	3.46	3,116	83	20	22	2,998	1,253	1,318	347	711	52	81	43	72	8.60	1.96	4.38	0.96	23.5	5.4	1.14	.293	3.64	80	3.22	76	8.27	373.6
21	Greg Maddux G. Maddux	4.08	5008.1	20,421	744	355	227	.610	740	3.16	3,371	109	35	0	4,726	1,756	1,981	353	999	137	3	177	70	6.06	1.80	3.37	0.63	16.5	4.9	1.14	.281	3.56	76	3.25	78	8.49	519.5
22	Masahiro Tanaka M. Tanaka	4.08	1054.1	4,299	174	78	46	.629	173	3.74	991	7	4	0	983	438	476	159	208	26	0	1	32	8.46	1.78	4.76	1.36	23.1	4.8	1.13	.283	4.06	88	3.90	89	8.39	53.3
23	Johan Santana J. Santana	4.08	2025.2	8,262	360	139	78	.641	284	3.20	1,988	15	10	1	1,726	721	773	220	567	36	23	13	68	8.83	2.52	3.51	0.98	24.1	6.9	1.13	.276	3.43	74	3.43	81	7.67	187.6
24	Bruce Sutter B. Sutter	4.08	1042.0	4,251	661	68	71	.489	0	2.83	861	0	0	300	879	328	370	77	309	13	512	83	37	7.44	2.67	2.79	0.67	20.3	7.3	1.14	.268	3.20	75	2.93	80	7.59	88
25	Rollie Fingers R. Fingers	4.08	1701.1	6,942	944	114	118	.491	37	2.90	1,299	4	2	341	1,474	549	615	123	492	39	709	109	40	6.87	2.60	2.64	0.65	18.7	7.1	1.16	.271	3.25	83	2.95	82	7.80	125.4