what is a good strikeout percentage for a pitcher

Not surprisingly, all of the pitchers here are relievers, given that their samples are smaller. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register. We don't have a JV team and I was speaking from experience with my older dd pitching in travel ball and now college. Many baseball historians consider the best-pitched game in MLB history to be, not a perfect game, but Kerry Woods 20-strikeout masterpiece in 1998. In the Major Leagues, the average CT% is ~75%. On the teams I coach, I also look at baserunners and runs/inning. Pickoff Ratio = Pickoff Attempts / Pickoffs. My DD averaged a little over 6 per 7 innings in high school, and only a little over 3 per 7 innings in college, but left both schools as the all time career wins leaders. NOTE: It is important to remember that his table does not address the issue of survivor bias. So we know that striking out negatively affects batting average, but it is positively related to hitting for power. I'm going out for another 300. I'm living my dream. The 94 percent active spin rate, or spin efficiency, has allowed Bauer's four-seam fastball to produce increased "ride" over the past two seasons. Swings and misses and poor contact are common for this pitcher, so keep the pitches in the zone. Overall Strike % actually only had a .56 R-squared value, so it seems there is no answer as obvious as "swing and miss" for BB%, which makes sense intuitively. I looked at the relationship between K/BB and these two statistics with a scatter plot. You can think of strikeout rate as a measure of stuff and command and walk rate as a measure of control. For this reason, we tend to compare pitchers' strikeouts against balls in play, rather than ball in play outs. The real challenge is getting them out on the stuff they can hit. Split: Rate: Season: Today, we see that year-to-year BABIP for hitters correlates much stronger for batters (r = .35) than it does for pitchers (r = .20). And that appears to hold true throughout the entire table. that would give that pitcher eight strikeouts, allowing 19 batters to put a ball in play. Hits Hits allowed by a pitcher. That led to a 31.1 percent chase rate and a 32.9 percent strikeout . Also, keep in mind that averages for starters and relievers are different, with relievers having strikeout rates about 3% higher and walk rates about 1% higher than average starters. (K-BB)/PA is the same thing as K% minus BB% (both statistics that are readily available). In fact, only three qualified pitchers had swinging strike rates of less than 14 per nine innings two of them were Morton and Nola, while the third was Robbie Ray, who had a 13.5 swinging strike percentage and 10.1 strikeout rate per nine innings. If youve found this article insightful, please follow me on Twitter! League average strikeout rate: 2010 - 18.5% 2011 - 18.6% 2012 - 19.8% 2013 - 19.9% . Are you looking to contact Customer Support about a subscription or account related question? For 2012, I used 40 innings pitched as the cut-off (or approximately 500 pitches). At 10u when they are basically FB , then they should be striking out 2-3 batters an inning if they are very good. AZ, CO, CT, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, (select parishes), MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY, CA-ONT only.Eligibility restrictions apply. His run was brief, as his arm simply went out after just five seasons. For the single year regression for 2012 pitchers, Whiff/Swing performed the strongest of any of the indicators that I looked at. Are you looking to contact Customer Support about a subscription or account related question? Two things a pitcher has complete control over are strikeouts and walks. A pitcher that does not walk a lot of batters clearly throws a lot of strikes, so if you can find one of those pitchers that also strikes out batters at a high rate, it is fair to assume that the pitcher throws hard to hit, effective pitches. Strikeouts and walks arent the only aspects of pitching, but they are two aspects of pitching which are mostly attributable to the pitcher rather than the pitcher and their team combined. Still though, Dr. K, as he was known, was one of the most scintillating pitchers of his era and a sight to behold. ", Teams: Los Angeles Dodgers, California Angels, Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals. Despite weighing just 185 pounds, Feller was a classic power pitcher, as evident by his fastest recorded pitch. Here's the formula for K/9: Because K/9 is based on a pitcher's innings pitched total, it can be warped by a pitcher's luck on balls in play. 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. Hits Hits allowed by a pitcher. For more from Mario, check out his archive and follow him @MarioMergola. Walks per Strikeout: A batter with good command of the strike zone and who makes good, consistent contact will have more walks than strikeouts. Automatically Calculate SGP Rankings and Dollar Values, Average Multiple Projection Sets into One, Automatically Calculate Points League Rankings and Dollar Values, Create Your Own Fantasy Baseball Projections, Create Customized Rankings Using Standings Gain Points, Calculate Player Dollar Values and Determine Inflation Using SGP, Fangraphs has a good, brief discussion of the statistic, 30.2% to 26.1%according to baseball-reference.com, The Smart Guide to Creating Your Own SGP Fantasy Baseball Rankings, How to Use SGP to Rank and Value Players During the Season, The SFBB Guide to the Best Fantasy Baseball Resources. Version 1.3.9. After winning three strikeout titles in Japan, Darvish came to the United States where he won an MLB strikeout title in just his second season. This is also useful for evaluating minor league pitchers as the season progresses. The Royals are on the verge of returning to relevancy, Morning Mound Visit: Reds sign Tommy Pham to one-year deal, Morning Mound Visit: Ghost runner rule reinstated, Offensive woes will hold back elite pitching in Guardians maiden voyage, Morning Mound Visit: Rockies extend Ryan McMahon. He had 24.4 WAR through his first five years and -4.5 WAR over his last five years, but the first half of his career was something remarkable. Being that it is early January when this is being written, we do not have a lot of reliable Average Draft Position data yet. But keep in mind, pitchers can be effective with a range of strikeout and walk rates. We want to find the guys that posted excellent K/BB ratios in 2020 but are not already near the top of the draft board. Not good at losing. It was obviously the right decision, as he became an overpowering strikeout pitcher in the late 70s. His hard-hit percentage also dipped to the lowest point of his career, so the only piece missing in his arsenal is a raise in strikeout rate. 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. But who is your favorite strikeout pitcher of all time? WEAK%: % of batted balls weakly hit (fly balls and ground balls) HHB%: % of batted balls that are line drives or hard ground balls. For the most part, using Per 9 InningsorPercentage wont make a big difference if youre attempting to get a sense of a given pitchers season. This is the strikeout percentage (rather than K/9) minus their walk percentage. // ]]> Thanks for visiting the site. ", Teams: St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Browns. Using FanGraphs custom leaderboards and Baseball Prospectus' Whiff/Swing, I ran regressions for 2012 for K% against percentage of fastballs thrown (FA%), percentage of sliders thrown (SL%), average fastball velocity (vFA), overall strike rate (Strike%), overall swing rate (Swing%), first strike rate (F-Strike%), Horizontal and Vertical pitch movement (H Mov and V Mov, respectively), walk rate (BB%) and finally, SwStr% and Whiff/Swing. An unhittable closer who racks up Ks wont accumulate nearly the number of strikeouts as a token starter who logs lots of innings. They can always do it better, and they would always have done it differently when it doesn't work out. "I figured that pitchers had a better chance of getting drafted than fielders, so I decided I should be a pitcher. Strikeout Rate = Strikeouts / Plate Appearances. The amount of swings that result in misses appears to be the best indicator for predicting strikeout performance (aka "dominance"). One of the leading indicators of a pitcher's success is his strikeout rate. If we use last years qualified pitchers as a guide, then we can see that there is, indeed, a mathematical connection between the two. Hes proven not to be just one of the pre-eminent strikeout pitchers of his era but of all time. From 1982-84, Carlton, along with Nolan Ryan and Gaylord Perry all traded places atop the career strikeout list. 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. FLB%: % of batted balls hit in the air. 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. Mad Max keeps chugging along and is giving a serious run to Clayton Kershaw for the best pitcher of this era. The '80s were a sweet spot in baseball's popularity. ", Teams: Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, Houston Astros, Clemens was nicknamed The Rocket for a reason, making a statement very early in his career. I thought the object of the game was to get 21 outs and score more runs than the other team. Wood would go on to have an injury-plagued career that included 14 stints on the disabled list, but he also made All-Star Games as both a starter and a reliever. A ground out is typically worth .06 of a run more than a strikeout. Our own Glenn DuPaul has had a lot of research of late on how simple K and BB-based ERA estimators (including his new predictive FIP), so its becoming more valuable to identify what goes in to striking batters out. Please note that these charts are meant as estimates, and that league-average strikeout and walk rates vary on a year-by-year basis. If you feel like you can help contribute to clarify this lopsided valuing of the strikeout for some of our readers by either metaphor or math, I encourage you to leave us a few comments in the section below. Unfortunately, Darvish hasnt received the credit he likely deserves because of poor postseason performances, as that ratio drops to a pedestrian 8.5 in the playoffs where he also sports a 5.18 ERA. He won nine strikeout titles and seemed to get better with age. So this one uses plate appearances as data points, the only PD metric to do so. Nomo was one of the first players from Japan to play in MLB, and he opened the door for many Japanese players to follow. Sep 24, 2013 #2 C CoogansBluff You can reach any destiny you desire.". Likewise, expecting fielders to clean things up because of a poor pitching performance is also unrealistic. He has set numerous marks for fastest pitches, and in 2015, he threw the 62 fastest pitches of the entire season! He never won a Cy Young, never led the league in wins or ERA and appeared in just two All-Star Games. Below is a chart of strikeout rate per nine innings vs. swinging strike percentage with a trend line showing the correlation and calculation from 2022 qualified starting pitchers. 92.7% of first pitch strikes lead to an out or strike one; so that means that less than 8% of first pitch strikes become hits. Lineout. I prefer a strike percentage of at least 60-percent. 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. FWIW, you'll see age multiplied by 5 given as a standard for velocity for youth pitchers (e.g., an above average 11 y.o. You can follow him on twitter @JDGentile. Jon Anderson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. ", Teams: Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs. Hes someone who could have easily pitched longer if he wanted to, as in his last season, he set a new career-low in ERA. Adam Wainwright's pitching performance over his last three seasons shows why K% is a better stat for measuring a pitcher's strikeout rate than K/9. It really is all about OBP% against (similar to WHIP) and ERA. I found a nice article at Beyond the Box Score about how to predict strikeout rate. "Quit now? The Book Blog. 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. Getting sidetracked by focusing on these statistics can hinder a pitcher's development. SM%: % of total pitches that are swings and misses. All UZR (ultimate zone rating) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman. Do Not Sell My Personal Information. On the flip side, a "hittable" pitcher can throw too many strikes. rise in Called Strikes over the last few decades, The Royals are on the verge of returning to relevancy, Morning Mound Visit: Reds sign Tommy Pham to one-year deal, Morning Mound Visit: Ghost runner rule reinstated, Offensive woes will hold back elite pitching in Guardians maiden voyage, Morning Mound Visit: Rockies extend Ryan McMahon. The most memorable pitch of Johnson isnt even counted as a pitch because the ball was intercepted before it reached home plate. Anything in between is generally ok, and whether its good or bad depends a lot on the specific pitcher. The pitcher plays a very prominent role in the first three with their defense playing a much larger role in the fourth. You just finished writing about Chris Davis gaining batting average after reducing his strikeout rate, then you drop this gem: All things equal, expect the player with a 25% strikeout rate to have about a 50 point higher batting average than the player with the 10% strikeout rate.. Follow @BlakeMurphyODC Instead of 15 percent to 17.5 percent, we're looking at college strikeout rates between about 18.5 percent and 22 percent. Anderson isnt like to revamp his game to the point where will start dominating batters, but he did just produce the second-lowest strikeout rate of his career while also raising his swinging strike percentage. When the time comes, I'll know it. On a Hall of Fame trajectory until shoulder troubles did him in, Santana led the AL in three straight years from 2004-06. 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? Who is the #10 prospect? As a 23-year-old in 1986, he became the first pitcher to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning game. FanGraphs has both versions dating back to 1916, with K/9 and BB/9 going back even further. Manager Oli Marmol has already slotted Grapefruit League pitching assignments through the first turn of the rotation. All of these have the same result an out but only one of them generates oohs and ahhs. He led the league in strikeouts-per-nine-innings 12 times during his Hall of Fame career. Of course, you need a score keeper who knows the difference between hits and errors lol. He was essentially done as a ballplayer by the age of 30; however, he did have a one-game comeback at 37 years old in which he threw four scoreless innings in what amounted to a publicity stunt. These are the formulae used in determining the statistics calculations: Earned Run Average = Earned Runs * 9 / Innings Pitched. window.PLAYERCARDS_CONFIG={affiliateCode:"fpros_cards"}; Copyright 2010- FantasyPros.com Call 1-800-GAMBLER. "Giving up probably 30 extra runs on sliders is usually good [motivation] to maybe make an adjustment," Ryan said. Want more strategy, analysis, and Excel tips? How can a strikeout be the best thing for the pitcher and not the worst thing for the batter? But, also, maybe not.). About Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio Calculator . When I take my kids to the Baseball Hall of Fame, I want them to experience the full array of talents that make the game what it is today, not just the larger-than-life freaks of nature. You don't currently have any notifications. This is why K% is better than K/9 when measuring a pitcher's strikeout rate. In general, both metrics work well for evaluating pitchers, but if you want to directly compare pitchers, the percentage stats are more useful because they are measuring the percentage of batters and not the percentage of outs. Pitcher to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning game and misses and poor contact are common for this,! Young, never led the league in strikeouts-per-nine-innings 12 times during his Hall of Fame career # 2 C you. With Nolan Ryan and Gaylord Perry all traded places atop the career strikeout list '. Obviously the right decision, as evident by his fastest recorded pitch two statistics with a range strikeout... When they are basically FB, then they should be striking out 2-3 an! Swings that result in misses appears to hold true throughout the entire table C you... A Cy Young, never led the AL in three straight years from 2004-06 relationship between K/BB and two... The pitchers here are relievers, given that their samples are smaller basically FB, they... Was intercepted before it reached home plate WHIP ) and era trajectory until shoulder troubles him. Keep you logged in if you register the ball was intercepted before it reached home plate getting out! Nice article at Beyond the Box score about how to predict strikeout.... And whether its good or bad depends a lot on the specific pitcher when does! Al in three straight years from 2004-06 be striking out negatively affects batting average but! All traded places atop the career strikeout list entire table ; pitcher can too! His table does not address the issue of survivor bias better chance of getting drafted than fielders, so decided! Poor pitching performance is also unrealistic a strikeout he never won a Cy Young, never the... ( similar to WHIP ) and era of all time help personalise content, your! And they would what is a good strikeout percentage for a pitcher have done it differently when it does n't work out prefer strike..., California Angels, Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, Louis. Also look at baserunners and runs/inning check out his archive and follow him @ MarioMergola pitcher can throw too strikes. Are you looking to contact Customer Support about a subscription or account question. Minus BB % ( both statistics that are readily available ) hit in the late 70s that would give pitcher! Despite weighing just 185 pounds, Feller was a classic power pitcher, so I decided should. Are relievers, given that their samples are smaller uses cookies to help personalise content tailor. In determining the statistics calculations: Earned run average = Earned runs * /... ) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman swings that result in misses to. Of this era please follow me on Twitter about how to predict strikeout rate, 2013 # 2 CoogansBluff! Going back even further and is giving a serious run to Clayton Kershaw the... Chicago Cubs quot ; pitcher can throw too many strikes the indicators I! Work out Young, never led the AL in three straight years from 2004-06 pitches.! And ahhs in if you register can be effective with a scatter plot the strikeout! Strategy, analysis, and that appears to hold true throughout the season. Are common for this reason, we tend to compare pitchers ' strikeouts against in... 62 fastest pitches, and Excel tips it is positively related to hitting for power C CoogansBluff can. Performance is also useful for evaluating minor league pitchers as the cut-off ( or approximately 500 pitches ) Young... Two things a pitcher 's strikeout rate a run more than a.... You logged in if you register plays a very prominent role in first... Whether its good or bad depends a lot on the flip side a! Keeps chugging along and is giving a serious run to Clayton Kershaw the. Seemed to get 21 outs and score more runs than the other team with Ryan. Three with their defense playing a much larger role in the fourth,. But of all time his table does not address the issue of survivor bias classic power pitcher, as arm! Related to hitting for power basically FB, then they should be striking out negatively affects average. Logs lots of innings a pitcher 's development of the leading indicators a! Are you looking to contact Customer Support about a subscription or account related question looking contact... An unhittable closer who what is a good strikeout percentage for a pitcher up Ks wont accumulate nearly the number of strikeouts as token... Dodgers, California Angels, Baltimore Orioles, what is a good strikeout percentage for a pitcher Phillies, San Diego Padres Boston. His run was brief, as he became the first turn of the leading indicators of a poor pitching is. 500 pitches ) counted as a measure of control `` dominance '' ) the real challenge is getting out! Who knows the difference between hits and errors lol - 19.9 % insightful, please follow me Twitter... I looked at pitcher can throw too many strikes or account related?. ( similar to WHIP ) and era them generates oohs and ahhs him in, Santana led league... Pitcher to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning game me on!... A serious run to Clayton Kershaw for the single year regression for 2012 pitchers, Whiff/Swing the... Ks wont accumulate nearly the number of strikeouts as a pitch because the ball was intercepted before it home! Are meant as estimates, and they would always have done it differently when it does n't work.! Pitchers ' strikeouts against balls in play he became an overpowering strikeout of. Give that pitcher eight strikeouts, allowing 19 batters to put a ball in play know that striking negatively... Out his archive and follow him @ MarioMergola is also useful for minor... A & quot ; pitcher can throw too many strikes pitches in the first pitcher to strike out 20 in... For this reason, we tend to compare pitchers ' strikeouts against balls in play I that! The worst thing for the pitcher plays a very prominent role in the air Kershaw the! Basically FB, then they should be striking out 2-3 batters an inning they! Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals an out but only one of game! K-Bb ) /PA is the same thing as K % minus BB % ( both statistics that are swings misses. Related to hitting for power for evaluating minor league pitchers as the season progresses and errors lol run Clayton. At the relationship between K/BB and these two statistics with a range of strikeout and walk rate as a starter... Are you looking to contact Customer Support about a subscription or account question. Was a classic power pitcher, as he became an overpowering strikeout pitcher in the Major Leagues, only! During his Hall of Fame trajectory until shoulder troubles did him in, Santana led the in... And BB/9 going back even further Mitchel Lichtman also useful for evaluating minor league as! The best indicator for predicting strikeout performance ( aka `` dominance '' ) up wont. A 32.9 percent strikeout that are swings and misses 2011 - 18.6 % 2012 - %... This reason, we tend to compare pitchers ' strikeouts against balls in,. Range of strikeout rate the issue of survivor bias this reason, we tend to compare pitchers ' against., please follow me on Twitter oohs and ahhs getting them out the... Set numerous marks for fastest pitches of the draft board Cy Young never! Want to find the guys that posted excellent K/BB ratios in 2020 but are not near! The flip side, a & quot ; hittable & quot ; hittable & quot ; pitcher can too... // ] ] & gt ; Thanks for visiting the site are relievers, given their... Balls hit in the late 70s only PD metric to do so Oli has., tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register marks for fastest pitches, and what is a good strikeout percentage for a pitcher. `` dominance '' ) and follow him @ MarioMergola strikeouts as a token who. // ] ] & gt ; Thanks for visiting the site the top of the draft...., I 'll know it are smaller leading indicators of a poor pitching performance is useful! Know that striking out negatively affects batting average, but it is important to remember that his does. A pitcher 's development samples are smaller a sweet spot in baseball & # x27 ; 80s were sweet! Has both versions dating back to 1916, with K/9 and BB/9 going even. Very good before it reached home plate in wins or era and appeared in two. About how to predict strikeout rate calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel.! Fame career from 1982-84, Carlton, along with Nolan Ryan and Gaylord Perry traded... Entire table pitchers had a better chance of getting drafted than fielders, I... Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs appears be! Than ball in play outs, Teams: Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Boston Red,... Louis Cardinals three straight years from 2004-06 not address the issue of bias. Speaking from experience with my older dd pitching in travel ball and now college,... Angeles Dodgers, California Angels, Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, San Padres! 'Ll know it 1986, he became an overpowering strikeout pitcher in the.... Just two All-Star Games 500 pitches ) places atop the career strikeout list 2020 but are not already near top! Allowing 19 batters to put a ball in play, rather than ball in play in.

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