Two Impressive Strikeout Totals in One Game
Astros vs. Angels, Javier vs. Ohtani - the K/IP were high for these guys!
Issue #7
In reading yesterday's box scores I was struck by the performances of the starting pitchers in the final game of the day. Even without Mike Trout in the lineup, the Angels beat the Astros 7-1, backed by two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani's performances that included 6 strong innings on the mound and a 2-4 day at the plate, with a triple and two RBIs. It was a reversal of recent fortunes, as the Angels have gone 2-8 in their last ten, while the Astros have been 7-3.
Ohtani's pitching line caught my eye: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB... and 12 strikeouts. Having that many or more strikeouts in a game in which you pitch 6 or fewer innings isn't entirely rare—it has happened 172 times according to a search at Stathead. In fact, it happened two days ago when José Berríos of the Blue Jays did the same against the Phillies: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, and 13 strikeouts.
Striking out 12 or more batters in a performance of 6 or fewer innings is becoming more and more common in recent years for several reasons:
Pitchers' pitch counts seem to be on the mind of managers and pitching coaches constantly. Even if they are performing well, dominating even, they could get pulled after six innings—before the horrific “third time through the lineup,” or just because of pitch count and presumed fatigue.
Advanced metrics and techniques, the emphasis on velocity, and the behavior patterns of hitters, have been generally increasing strikeouts in general over the past decade.
And the ever increasing specialization of max-effort and specialized relief pitchers (even with the new 1-inning required rule in place), are making it more likely starting pitchers will get pulled even after five or six dominant innings.
This year we've already seen more performances of 6 IP or less, with 12 strikeouts or more, than we did all of last year. Here is the historical breakdown:
2022: 15
2021: 11
2020: 5 (short season)
2019: 23
2018: 16
2017: 4
2016: 14
2015: 7
2010-2014: 27
2005-2009: 14
2000-2004: 12
1995-1999: 8
1990-1994: 4
1980-1989: 1 (Nolan Ryan in 1989)
1970-1979: 4
1960-1969: 7
Before 1960: 0
That’s right… the first time a pitcher tossed a max of 6 IP but had 12 or more strikeouts was Billy Pierce of the White Sox in a game they lost to the Baltimore Orioles on May 23, 1961. He allowed 8 hits, two of them HR, two walks, and 3 ERs.
Last night's game was the second time Ohtani has done this, and here is the mostly unsurprising list of pitchers who have done it the most often:
7 - Gerrit Cole
5 - Randy Johnson
4 - Justin Verlander
4 - Blake Snell
4 - Carlos Rodón
4 - Chris Archer
3 - Chris Sale
3 - Nolan Ryan
3 - Robbie Ray
3 - Aaron Nola
3 - A.J. Burnett
Note that all of these guys are still active except Johnson, Ryan, and Burnett.
It should also be noted that striking out 12 or more hitters, in 6 IP or less, doesn't always lead your team winning the game. Some of these performances also allowed several homeruns, like Curt Schilling's June 28, 1997 game for Phillies against the Braves, where he struck out 12 in 5.2 IP, but uncharacteristically walked 4 batters and also allowed 8 H, 4 HR, and 7 ER.
Or consider Andrew Cashner's strange pitching line from June 1, 2015 while pitching for the Padres against the Mets: 4.2 IP, 12 SO, 0 BB, 11 H, and 5 ER. That is only one of two times that a pitcher hurled less than 5 IP, but had 12 or more strikeouts, the other being Alex Cobb on May 10, 2013, pitching for the Rays against the Padres, when he pitched 4.2 IP and had 13 strikeouts, while allowing 5 H and 3 ER.
Cristian Javier’s Very Rare Pitching Line
Getting back to the game last night, the starting pitcher for the Astros did something even more rare when it comes to a cluster of strikeouts in a short outing. Cristian Javier was eventually tagged with the loss after pitching 3.2 IP, allowing 5 H, 3 ER, and 3 BB... but also having 10 strikeouts.
Again using Stathead, I found that having 10 strikeouts in an outing of fewer than 4 IP has only happened two other times:
Tyler Alexander in a relief appearance for the Tigers on August 2, 2020: 3.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 SO
Danny Salazar of the Indians on April 10, 2014: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 10 SO
The Alexander instance is an outlier, as all but one of the other instances of <=4 IP and 10 or more strikeouts came from starters. There have only been 8 such performances and all have come since 2013. The reason most of the appearances were of 4 IP or less is not surprisingly because the pitcher—while racking up the Ks—also let up a lot of walks, hits, and/or runs. The worst such game was probably Noah Syndergaard's June 2, 2015 game for the Mets against the Padres, when he pitched 4 IP and had 10 SO with 0 walks, but allowed 10 H and 7 ER.
Besides Alexander, the only relief appearance of 4 IP or less, but 10 strikeouts or more, came from legendary Smokey Joe Wood who pitched innings 6-9 to close out a game for the Red Sox against Cleveland on July 7, 1909. He had 10 strikeouts and no walks, letting up only one hit in those final four innings that secured a 6-4 win.
Beyond Ohtani and Javier as starters, the relievers of both teams recorded 10 strikeouts as well. That means there was a combined 32 strikeouts in the game, which according to Joe Reedy of the AP (see StarTribune), is the all-time American League record a 9-inning game.
Strikeouts per game are slightly down this year (see Baseball-Reference.com), but are still near the all-time highs reached over the past four seasons (2019 set the record). Fewer lengthy extra-inning games, due to the silly Manfred Man rule, could be one reason. Regardless, it seems that short pitching outings with high strikeout numbers will continuing to become more common, so watch for more interesting pitching lines to come!
All data is from Baseball-Reference.com, and also their subscription service Stathead.com. If you are a big sports fan, be sure to check out the latest features at Stathead and the Sports Reference family of sites.