Fielding Independent Pitching ERA (FIP) is one of my personal favorite stat to look at on a regular basis.  It tells a more accurate story then a pitcher ERA.  Here is the top 25 in FIP with their ERA and their overall season rank (by pitchers) in Yahoo.

1. Jake Peavy - FIP 2.68,  ERA 2.44  - rank 1
2. Josh Beckett - FIP 3.01,  ERA 3.20 - rank 4
3. John Smoltz - FIP 3.03,  ERA 3.02 - rank 9
4. C.C. Sabathia - FIP 3.11,  ERA 3.21 - rank 5
5. Erik Bedard - FIP 3.15,  ERA 3.16 - rank 3
6. Brandon Webb - FIP 3.22,  ERA 2.99 - rank 6
7. Chris Young - FIP 3.31,  ERA 2.77 - rank 7
8. Joe Blanton - FIP 3.35,  ERA 3.78 - rank 22
9. Kelvim Escobar - FIP 3.37,  ERA 3.25 - rank 13
10. Brad Penny - FIP 3.38 - ERA 2.88 - rank 16
11. Greg Maddux - FIP 3.41,  ERA 3.91 - rank 41
12. Tim Hudson - FIP 3.46,  ERA 3.48 - rank 25
13. Scott Kazmir - FIP 3.53, ERA 3.54 - rank 30
14. Roy Oswalt - FIP 3.57,  ERA 3.30 - rank 27
15. Roy Halladay - FIP 3.60,  ERA 3.82 - rank 33
16. Dan Haren - FIP 3.63,  ERA 3.11 - rank 10
17. Justin Verlander - FIP 3.64,  ERA 3.47 - rank 14
18. Dustin McGowan - FIP 3.69,  ERA 4.01 - rank 39
19. Felix Hernandez - FIP 3.69,  ERA 4.03 - rank 59
20. John Lackey - FIP 3.70,  ERA 3.21 - rank 15
21. Andy Pettitte - FIP 3.70,  ERA 3.93 - rank 73
22. Johan Santana - FIP 3.71,  ERA 3.14 - rank 2
23. Matt Cain - FIP 3.72,  ERA 3.71 - rank 44
24. Aaron Harang - FIP 3.73,  ERA 3.65 - rank 8
25. Chien-Ming Wang - FIP 3.76,  ERA 3.82 - rank 38

It is interesting to see that Dan Haren and Chris Young have not been pitching nearly as well as their ERA indicates.  I would expect that they would continue to struggle over the last two weeks as well.  However, Dustin McGowan, Greg Maddux, and Felix Hernandez have been pitching better then their ERA indicates.

There are also some Waiver Wire finds here.  Dustin McGowan is available in many leagues, and other owners may be afraid to pick him up since he is facing the Yankees and Red Sox over the last two weeks.  I also just picked Matt Cain off of one of my waiver wires this past week.  Another pitcher of interest is not in the Top 25 is James Shields.  His is ranked 26th in FIP, and is a good source for strikeouts.