Enter earned runs and innings pitched to get ERA. Set the game length for youth ball (often 6 or 7 innings).
ERA = (earned runs × innings in a game) ÷ innings pitched. It scales a pitcher's earned runs to a full game so you can compare a reliever who threw 2 innings with a starter who threw 6. In the majors the game is 9 innings; in youth ball it's often 6 or 7, so set that field to match your league — it changes the number.
In MLB, under 3.00 is excellent and around 4.00 is average — but those are 9-inning figures. For youth pitchers on 6- or 7-inning games, compare against their own league and, above all, track the trend over the season. Pair ERA with WHIP to see how many baserunners a pitcher allows.
Multiply earned runs by the number of innings in a game, then divide by innings pitched. Example (9-inning game): 3 earned runs in 6 innings = (3 × 9) ÷ 6 = 4.50.
Use your league's regulation game length — commonly 6 or 7 innings for youth ball rather than 9. The setting changes the ERA, so match it to how your games are actually played.
In baseball notation the decimal counts outs: 5.1 is 5 and 1/3 innings, 5.2 is 5 and 2/3. This calculator converts that automatically.