BP Unfiltered

The Week of Setting Strikeout Records

by Ben Lindbergh

Printer-friendly

Contact Author

A collection of headlines from the past week:

Rays pitchers break AL record for strikeouts—9/21

Pirates pitching staff sets club strikeouts record—9/25

20 Strikeouts! Zack Greinke, Angels tie MLB records vs. Mariners—9/26

A's hitters set AL strikeout record—9/26

Doug Fister sets AL record with nine straight strikeouts—9/27

Don't know about you, but I'm sensing some sort of pattern here.

Not only is the major-league average strikeout rate of 7.6 per nine innings this season the highest ever, but the increase of 0.5 K/9 since last season, should it hold up over the final week, would be the largest single-season uptick since 1986.

Note: Sam Miller and I discussed the significance of the strikeout surge on today's episode of Effectively Wild. To avoid having to hear us talk about other topics, skip straight to the strikeout stuff at the 9:30 mark.

Ben Lindbergh is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @benlindbergh
Click here to see Ben's other articles. You can contact Ben by clicking here

Related Content: Records, Strikeouts

3 comments have been left for this article.

<< Previous Article
The BP Wayback Machine... (09/28)

<< Previous Column
BP Unfiltered: Tim Lin... (09/28)

Next Column >>
BP Unfiltered: Edwin S... (10/01)

Next Article >>
The Prospectus Hit Lis... (09/28)

RECENTLY AT BASEBALL PROSPECTUS Playoff Prospectus: Come Undone BP En Espanol: Previa de la NLCS: Cubs vs. D... Playoff Prospectus: How Did This Team Get Ma... Playoff Prospectus: Too Slow, Too Late Playoff Prospectus: PECOTA Odds and ALCS Gam... Playoff Prospectus: PECOTA Odds and NLCS Gam... Playoff Prospectus: NLCS Preview: Cubs vs. D...	MORE FROM SEPTEMBER 28, 2012 Baseball Therapy: A Sabermetric Case for Mig... Transaction Analysis: Astros Try Bo Value Picks: Outfielders Review Collateral Damage Daily: Friday, September 2... The Prospectus Hit List: Friday, September 2... What You Need to Know: Friday, September 28 The BP Wayback Machine: Oops, They Did it Ag...
MORE BY BEN LINDBERGH 2012-10-01 - BP Daily Podcast: Effectively Wild Episode 5... 2012-09-28 - Overthinking It: Mourning Manny Acta 2012-09-28 - BP Daily Podcast: Effectively Wild Episode 5... 2012-09-28 - BP Unfiltered: The Week of Setting Strikeout... 2012-09-28 - BP Unfiltered: Tim Lincecum and the Worst Re... 2012-09-27 - Overthinking It: The Injuries That Decided D... 2012-09-27 - BP Daily Podcast: Effectively Wild Episode 5... More...	MORE BP UNFILTERED 2012-10-02 - BP Unfiltered: Putting the V in MVP 2012-10-02 - BP Unfiltered: The Third-Best ERA in History 2012-10-01 - BP Unfiltered: Edwin Starr and the NL MVP Ra... 2012-09-28 - BP Unfiltered: The Week of Setting Strikeout... 2012-09-28 - BP Unfiltered: Tim Lincecum and the Worst Re... 2012-09-27 - BP Unfiltered: Jeff Ballard Award 2012-09-26 - BP Unfiltered: A Modest Point About the AL M... More...