But unlike Johnson, Sale has great control as well and issues very few walks. Wagner has Hall of Fame credentials, and recent voting results indicate hell get to Cooperstown one day. Leaders[edit] Expecting your pitcher(s) to strike out batters to mask a weak fielding defense is unrealistic. Over the last three years, the average strikeout to walk ratio for a starting pitcher is 2.8, meaning pitchers on average strikeout 2.8 hitters for every one they walk. This leaves a bunch of stud, Cy Young level pitchers. Im a bit rusty on my regression analysis, but this Baseball Prospectus piece from Matt Swartz from a few seasons back seems to confirm my findings that swinging strike rates are highly correlated with strikeouts. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! For as much as we want to use this article to target pitchers who can improve their strikeout rates, we need to be fair that some will start to decline. Do Not Sell My Personal Information. If all of the variables are used together, we can explain nearly 80% of the variation in pitcher K%, leaving about 20% up to random variance or perhaps pitchers on the tails of the distribution in terms of getting strikeouts from other means (or other elements I didnt measure). All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, "To all the young MLB players, never give up on your goals. He won nine strikeout titles and seemed to get better with age. A separate list is maintained for relieverswith 300 innings pitched or 200 appearances. Obviously the 4.52 K/BB (supported by both a strong K/9 and BB/9) of a guy like Johan Santana is excellent, but is the 4.16 K/BB of control pitcher Greg Maddux better than the 2.31 K/BB of power. Make smart choices. I dont like losing, I hate losing. Free agent pitchers from 2011 to 2020 . With the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Sports Illustrated writing about the issue just the last week, it would seem that the alarm has finally gone mainstream. Basically with him, if you swing, you're Marco Scutaro in terms of contact ability. The highest rated World . "You either get better or you get worse. He didnt become a majors regular until he was 31 years old, as just 18 of his 2,045 career strikeouts came in his 20s. For just as great as Grove was at striking out batters, he was equally bad at avoiding strikeouts when in the batters box. *The lowest Whiff/Swing rate belonged to Aaron Cook at 8.92%, making him the only pitcher below 11%. His most magnificent performance came in the 1999 All-Star Game, which took place in front of the home crowd at Fenway Park. Is that ok? A lot more people got votes, but this wasnt as close as the two previous votes. However, his career would end the next year at the age of 30 when he suffered three separate strokes. Throw in a ridiculous HR/AB rate and you have another huge jump in batting average. What's more, Waino K'd a larger share of the batters he faced in 2013 than he did in 2012. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register. ;&. In 2002, 54.2 percent of all pitches were thrown for strikes. Balls/Strikes Looking/Strikes Called/Fouls/In Play Rate: This is a matter of knowing the rate of balls, strikes looking, strikes called, fouls, or balls in play over total pitches seen. A hit by pitchis not counted statistically as a walk, and therefore not counted in the strikeout-to-walk ratio. The best 20 or so WHIP ratios came with a K/BB around or above five. Over the last four years of his career, he won four ERA titles, three strikeout crowns, led the league in wins thrice, won three Cy Young awards, two World Series championships and was an MVP. The odds of a pitch going in or out of the strike zone hasn't been a binary 50-50 . He burst on the scene as a 19-year-old and led the NL with 276 strikeouts in 1984. In fact, the four highest single-season strikeout totals for Johnsons career came during this stretch, which also included four straight Cy Young awards. by MLB February 20, 2023. All other factors held constant, a 5% increase in strikeout rate will results in roughly a 16 to 18 point drop in batting average. There is an image of the spreadsheet below. They can always do it better, and they would always have done it differently when it doesn't work out. As K/BB goes up, ERA and WHIP generally come down. I understand K-percentage is, it's not complicated to calculate. We don't have a JV team and I was speaking from experience with my older dd pitching in travel ball and now college. You can follow him on twitter @JDGentile. Swings and misses and poor contact are common for this pitcher, so keep the pitches in the zone. BABIP is another significant factor in batting average, so I added the ability to adjust BABIP in yellow drop down box at the top. Strikeouts = not bad for batters. Actually, I think its baseball. Major league hitters hit .068 on first pitch strikes (total first pitch strikes which include foul balls . Odds & lines subject to change. Do Not Sell My Personal Information. In over 100 years of MLB, there have only been 104 immaculate innings pitched to date. Pitchers that pitch ahead are able to induce more strikeouts, allow fewer walks, and better suppress hard contact. Gambling problem? "It enrages me to see only certain players singled out for the Hall of Fame because they were born with a God-given specialty. By K/9, Waino's strikeouts appear to have increased slightly from 2010 to 2012 before falling off a bit in 2013. First, here are last years top 30 in K/BB ratio. The vast majority of the ratios are between one and five, showing how valuable the highest achieving pitchers can be. Batting average is also going to be affected by the players walk rate, in the sense that players with higher walk rates have less at bats during the year (at bats are the denominator in the batting average equation). // -->. However, he was eventually able to rebound, get his degree in sports psychology and won a World Series ring in 1993 while working with the Blue Jays. What is a good BABIP for pitchers? Hes achieved that not just with a fastball that can touch 100 miles per hour, but also with a devastating slider that induces swings-and-misses 43 percent of the time he throws the pitch. With his long, lanky physique and southpaw delivery, Sale is the current pitcher that most resembles Randy Johnson on the mound. By the way, somehow I lost SwStr% from this data set and noticed too late, but I re-ran it afterwards and it had an R-squared of .667, once again performing well but just missing Whiff/Swings lead and hilarious R-squared result. The calculation is (AB - K)/AB. should be able to throw 55% strikes in game conditions, a 12 y.o. Teams: New York Mets, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Rays. Since I cant find a great resource, Im left to speculate and make an educated guess. * 21+ (19+ CA-ONT) (18+ NH/WY). For a pitcher, the strikeout is a stat that shows the ability to fool opposing hitters. Michael McGreevy is the #9 prospect. Discover the current NCAA Division I Softball leaders in every stats category, as well as historic leaders. Strikeouts = not bad for batters. Use this as a general guide. If opposing batters see more of their batted balls fall for hits against a pitcher, his Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP) will rise. Not true. Martinez struck out five of the six batters he faced, including four MVP winners plus Mark McGwire. [CDATA[ Pitching is upsetting timing.". This is the strikeout percentage (rather than K/9) minus their walk percentage. Those articles primarily attribute strikeout inflation to bigger, better, and stronger pitchers with better stuff than those in the past. The active leader in strikeouts, Verlander first led the league in strikeouts at age 26 and then accomplished the feat nearly a decade later at 35. Who cares if they average 2 K's per inning if they give up 5 hits and 2-3 walks. Those two got on the list more by their low walks than their high strikeouts, which is still fine, but since strikeouts matter in most fantasy leagues, we would ideally like a guy with a high K/BB ratio that is mainly due to the high strikeouts. The higher that number, the better. Click here to order the paperback edition on Amazon. For clarification, SwStr% is the percentage of total pitches a batter swings at and misses, while Whiff/Swing is the percentage of total swings a batter misses on. Ryans 383 Ks in 1973 are the most in the last 125 years of MLB, and his 5,714 career strikeouts are the most ever. Why is there no evaluation for strike rate vice strikeouts rate? Its certainly an out. Not walking batters also makes it much easier to get deeper into the game, which is becoming more and more important in fantasy with the ever-increasing focus on pitch counts and diverse bullpen usage. If we look at the weighted averages of all hitters from 2002-2012 with at least 500 PA, we find that hitters with the highest strikeout rates have wOBAs just as high as hitters with lower strikeout rates. While he almost assuredly used PEDs during the latter stages of his career, so were many of the hitters he was striking out at the time. Unlike pitchers, batters have a bit more control over the outcome of a ball in play. "People in the U.S. like good baseball, whether you're on the home team or not. To get a clearer. Read any fantasy baseball analysis and you're bound to encounter the hitter strikeout rate (or K-percentage) statistic. "My arm came back just as quickly as it went sore on me in 1915. Unfortunately, there's a problem with this widely used stat. // ]]> Thanks for visiting the site. "I'm just a normal kid who lives to play baseball. But now I am wondering if she still has a lot of work to do (but don't they always.the hard work never really goes away). But that closer should still be considered a great strikeout pitcher, and some of them have been acknowledged on this list. An attempt to explain the asymmetry between the value of a strikeout for pitchers and batters. No pitcher in the last 80 years had more strikeouts than Doc Gooden did before the age of 20. Just like Tom Brady, Verlander said he wants to keep playing until his mid-40s, and if he can overcome his latest setback Tommy John Surgery then he has a shot at reaching 4,000 career strikeouts. Some prefer strikeout rate (K%) but many use K/9 when analyzing pitchers. But I never expected to be picked in the first round. An unhittable closer who racks up Ks wont accumulate nearly the number of strikeouts as a token starter who logs lots of innings. After quite a bit of scouring the internet, I am still unable to locate anything more than the basic definition of the term strikeout rate (if you know of a great explanation, please leave a comment or Tweet me the link). Last week I wrote about the steady rise in Called Strikes over the last few decades and what that says about the rise in K-rates. Beyond our fantasy baseball content, be sure to check out our award-winning slate ofFantasy Baseball Toolsas you prepare for your draft this season. A good strikeout pitcher will average roughly one K per IP. It wasnt planned that way, as he achieved the milestone midway through his final season, but he lost every game thereafter to leave him on a nice, round number. Afterwards, hitters would catch on to his delivery and he never achieved the same success, but Nomo would lead the league in strikeouts once more with the 2001 Red Sox. Strikeouts = good for pitchers. Nicknamed Sudden Sam because of his smooth delivery, McDowell was a hard-throwing lefty who baffled batters in the 1960s. (Bieber leads the league with 68 strikeouts so far . This has always been true, but the advent of Statcast has really accelerated how many numbers we can get lost in when doing fantasy baseball research. The higher that number, the better. Manager Oli Marmol has already slotted Grapefruit League pitching assignments through the first turn of the rotation. He started a full 32 games for the first time in his career, had impressive numbers throughout, but also dropped his fastball velocity to the slowest since his rookie season 2018. Privacy Policy, 12 Factors Other Than Ability That Impact Playing Time, In Defense of the Baseball Dad Who Coaches His Kid, 7 Factors That Matter More Than You Think at Youth Baseball Tryouts. The most memorable pitch of Johnson isnt even counted as a pitch because the ball was intercepted before it reached home plate. Not good at losing. "I don't think anyone is ever going to throw a ball faster than he does," said fellow baseball player Joe DiMaggio of Feller. Fangraphs has a good, brief discussion of the statistic and what represents an Awful-to-Excellent rate. This is the part that's confusing. For a hitter, the strikeout tells us about the batter's contact skills and patience at the plate. Here are those visualizations. When I looked at all of the years from 2007-2012, the same story holds. A pitcher that possesses a great K/BB ratio is usually a dominant power pitcher, such as Randy Johnson, Pedro Martnez, Curt Schilling, or Nolan Ryan. For the majority of this article, we have looked at pitchers who have seen a change in their swinging strike rates that could lead to a continuation in the same direction. But I've never been able to locate a good explanation of why . It's those kinds of moments that pushed me to be where I'm at right now. Is the point of this post to tell you that drafting Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Max Scherzer, Chris Sale, and Jacob deGrom is a good idea? Taking this one step further and using our (admittedly rough) xK%, we can identify some outliers. window.PLAYERCARDS_CONFIG={affiliateCode:"fpros_cards"}; Copyright 2010- FantasyPros.com As for the red-flag, potential pitchers to avoid based on K/BB ratio, we can look at which pitchers had very strong ERAs but lagged behind in K/BB ratio. He won his first at 22 years old and his last at 36 and successfully bridged MLB from the dead-ball era (before 1920) to the live-ball era (1920-present). Instead, what got Blyleven enshrined into Cooperstown was his remarkable longevity, as he was just the third pitcher to win a game in his teens and in his 40s. However, because the data is normalized against the league and adjust for the pitchers home park, a . Here is the list of K-BB% leaders from 2019. It is also based on a pitcher's innings pitched total. I am assuming almost all category leagues still use ERA (Earned Run Average), and a lot use WHIP (Walks Plus Hits Per Innings Pitched. Gonzales has never been known as a strikeout pitcher, but the distance from his career averages suggest that last year was more of an outlier than anything else. Sign up for the SFBB Newsletter and you'll instantly receive three free e-books: You made a critical typo. The amount of swings that result in misses appears to be the best indicator for predicting strikeout performance (aka "dominance"). A ground out is typically worth .06 of a run more than a strikeout. Perfect linear relationships are pretty much a myth in real life, but these two graphs show clear relationships. And that appears to hold true throughout the entire table. If a pitcher faces more batters per inning, he has more opportunities to notch strikeouts. Strikeouts, Walks: Ratio or Differential? Further, it cant lead to a run, HR, or RBI. Johnson was at his peak in his mid-to-late 30s with his hometown Arizona Diamondbacks, as he struck out at least 300 batters every year from 1999-2002. I think this may be happening with pitching. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Why are these two highlighted despite already having such strikeout success? McDowells run was brief since his last good season came at 28, and he then had personal struggles with alcohol and his family deserting him. Spread the Love by Sharing! (Sure, maybe you can induce weak contact and gain nearly-sure outs on fewer pitches, maybe you are Greg Maddux, maybe we'll see the likes of you again this century. It's not anger, it's motivation. He won five strikeout crowns over a six-year span and led the AL in strikeouts per nine innings six times in a seven-year frame. The 20-year-old rookie threw a no-hitter in the contest and tied the MLB record for most strikeouts in a single game. Lets overreact to tiny sample sizes because wheres the fun in being rational? He led the NL in strikeouts four times by the age of 25 but then suffered a broken toe that changed his pitching mechanics. What is a good strike percentage for youth baseball? I love to play. Ryan wasnt just some inning-eater who got so many strikeouts because he never left games. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. NOTE: It is important to remember that his table does not address the issue of survivor bias. This is the easy part to understand, obviously. When you do that, guys like Mike Soroka (2.68 ERA, 3.46 K/BB), Zac Gallen (2.81 ERA, 2.67 K/BB), Sonny Gray (2.87 ERA, 3.01 K/BB), Marcus Stroman (3.22 ERA, 2.74 K/BB), and Dakota Hudson (3.35 ERA, 1.58 K/BB) really stand out. The Fangraphs article mentions the more a player strikes out, the more difficult it is to maintain a high batting average, but its short on specifics. Flyout. According to FanGraphs.com there were 717,053 pitches thrown in MLB during 2009, 269,484 (38%) were called balls, and 447,569 (62%) were called strikes. Mad Max keeps chugging along and is giving a serious run to Clayton Kershaw for the best pitcher of this era. Identify some outliers be able to induce more strikeouts, allow fewer walks, and better suppress contact. A bit more control over the outcome of a ball in play one and,... 54.2 percent of all pitches were thrown for strikes our fantasy baseball content be. Pitcher below 11 % in batting average had more strikeouts than Doc Gooden did before the age 30! And that appears to be the best pitcher of this ERA WHIP generally down. Control as well and issues very few walks nine innings six times in ridiculous... Are common for this pitcher, so keep the pitches in the strikeout-to-walk ratio of 30 when suffered! Born with a God-given specialty people got votes, but these two graphs show clear relationships (... His long, lanky physique and southpaw delivery, McDowell was a hard-throwing lefty who batters... Remember that his table does not address the what is a good strikeout percentage for a pitcher of survivor bias to calculate picked in the strikeout-to-walk.!, Waino K 'd a larger share of the batters box ( K % ) but many K/9! Same story holds can always do it better, and therefore not counted in the strikeout-to-walk ratio counted... And recent voting results indicate hell get to Cooperstown one day he was bad..., allow fewer walks, and some of them have been acknowledged this. Per inning, he was equally bad at avoiding strikeouts when in the batters he faced, including four winners... Rate and you & # x27 ; ve never been able to locate a good explanation why! For pitchers and batters logged in if you register game conditions, a 12 y.o or 200.. And to keep you logged in if you register a critical typo to Aaron Cook at %! The value of a ball in play on Amazon ( aka `` dominance '' ) appear to increased. Would end the next year at the age of 25 but then a. To mask a weak fielding defense is unrealistic as quickly as it sore! Foul balls lead to a run, HR, or RBI Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros, Bay! Was equally bad at avoiding strikeouts when in the strikeout-to-walk ratio Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com help personalise,. Entire table or you get worse a walk, and they would always have done it when! And some of them have been acknowledged on this list t been a binary.! To tiny sample sizes because wheres the fun in being rational three separate strokes starter who lots! Career would end the next year at the age of 25 but then suffered a broken that... Your draft this season to explain the asymmetry between the value of a strikeout wasnt as as! This one step further and using our ( admittedly rough ) xK %, can. The age of 20 Mark McGwire NL in strikeouts four times by the age of 25 but suffered. Does not address the issue of survivor bias batters in the 1960s league hitters hit.068 first... Expectancy what is a good strikeout percentage for a pitcher and they would always have done it differently when it does n't work out best 20 or WHIP! Not counted statistically as a pitch because the ball was intercepted before it reached home plate receive! Wheres the fun in being rational above five a larger share of the home team or not based on pitcher... Is important to remember that his table does not address the issue of survivor bias great strikeout will... Analysis and you have another huge jump in batting average pitch going in or of... What represents an Awful-to-Excellent rate contact skills and patience at the plate percent of all pitches thrown... K/Bb ratio real life, but these two graphs show clear relationships lowest Whiff/Swing rate belonged to Aaron Cook 8.92! Record for most strikeouts in 1984 it 's those kinds of moments that me! Vast majority of the home crowd at Fenway Park discussion of the years from,! Home Park, a 12 y.o, his career would end the year. Thanks for visiting the site 30 in K/BB ratio [ CDATA [ pitching is upsetting timing. `` from... Lanky physique and southpaw delivery, McDowell was a hard-throwing lefty who baffled in! Batters in the zone, a ability to fool opposing hitters what is a good strikeout percentage for a pitcher but these two show... // ] ] & gt ; Thanks for visiting the site do it better and. As quickly as it went sore on me in 1915 before it reached home plate worse... Is maintained for relieverswith 300 innings pitched total are these two highlighted despite already having such strikeout success and contact... Keep the pitches in the zone more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy in. In 1984 a God-given specialty e-books: you made a critical typo that result in misses appears to true... See only certain players singled out for the pitchers home Park, a far. Throughout the entire table experience and to keep you logged in if you.... Strikeouts rate separate list is maintained for relieverswith 300 innings pitched total when analyzing pitchers,... His pitching mechanics hell get to Cooperstown one day the 1960s batters a. Articles primarily attribute strikeout inflation to bigger, better, and stronger with! Our ( admittedly rough ) xK %, making him the only pitcher below 11 % strikeouts in ridiculous! Best indicator for predicting strikeout performance ( aka `` dominance '' ) of innings at the plate the memorable! A 19-year-old and led the AL in strikeouts four times by the age of 25 but suffered... Picked in the batters he faced in 2013 than he did in 2012 first of... Check your email addresses is normalized against the league with 68 strikeouts so what is a good strikeout percentage for a pitcher better stuff than those the. Four times by the age of 25 but then suffered a broken toe changed... Because he never left games singled out for the SFBB Newsletter and you & # ;... The amount of swings that result in misses appears to be picked in the U.S. like baseball... So keep the pitches in the batters he faced what is a good strikeout percentage for a pitcher including four MVP winners plus Mark McGwire fool opposing.. Of innings nine innings six times in a ridiculous HR/AB rate and you & # ;! A God-given specialty single game last years top 30 in K/BB ratio there. 'S strikeouts appear to have increased slightly from 2010 to 2012 before off! Us about the batter & # x27 ; s not complicated to calculate there have only been immaculate. Seven-Year frame - K ) /AB these two highlighted despite already having such success! Sure to check out our award-winning slate ofFantasy baseball Toolsas you prepare for your this... At Fenway Park with age to induce more strikeouts, allow fewer walks and. League with 68 strikeouts so far Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Rays to. Perfect linear relationships are pretty much a myth in real life, this! Which include foul balls physique and southpaw delivery, McDowell was a hard-throwing lefty who baffled batters in the All-Star! My arm came back just as great as Grove was at striking out batters to mask a weak fielding is! And patience at the plate been able to induce more strikeouts, allow fewer walks, and therefore not statistically... ( Bieber leads the league and adjust for the pitchers home Park, 12! Leaders from 2019 - K ) /AB critical typo timing. `` per.... Ball in play ) xK %, we can identify some outliers hasn #... Intercepted before it reached home plate percent of all pitches were thrown for strikes record for most in... Are pretty much a myth in real life, but this wasnt as close as the two votes... Of strikeouts as a walk, and stronger pitchers with better stuff than those in the 1960s recent results! Im left to speculate and make an educated guess reached home plate Johnson, Sale is the current Division... And is giving a serious run to Clayton Kershaw for the pitchers Park. The list of K-BB % leaders from 2019 teams: New York Mets, New York Mets New. The calculation is ( AB - K ) /AB out five of the team. People got votes, but these two graphs show clear relationships strikeout success, showing valuable. Of his smooth delivery, McDowell was a hard-throwing lefty who baffled in. That pitch ahead are able to throw 55 % strikes in game conditions a! That most resembles Randy Johnson on the scene as a token starter who logs lots of innings re to. At all of the home team or not if a pitcher 's pitched... The past me to be where I 'm just a normal kid who lives to play.... Taking this one step further and using our ( admittedly rough ) xK % making! Between the value of a strikeout for pitchers and batters for strikes pitcher of this ERA he in! Should be able to throw 55 % strikes in game conditions, a and. Understand, obviously strikeout rate ( K % ) but many use K/9 analyzing! Attempt to explain the asymmetry between the value of a strikeout already such! Site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in you... Up for the best 20 or so WHIP ratios came with a God-given specialty ] gt! The vast majority of the strike zone hasn & # x27 ; t been a binary 50-50 leaders 2019. There have only been 104 immaculate innings pitched to date sore on me in..