There Is No “K” In Team?

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Posters and commenters have frequently noted here at HHS that major league hitters are striking out at an unprecedentedly high rate this season. But it is also true that in 2012 no single team is threatening to break the all-time record for most strikeouts per game by a team.

Here are the 2012 teams whose hitters are currently striking out most frequently, along with their K per game rates:

A’s 8.43 Ks per Game
Astros 8.29
Nationals 8.20
Pirates 8.10
Orioles 8.09

You can compare those numbers to the all-time highest team season strikeout rates, after the jump.

Most Strikeouts Per Game by Team’s Hitters, Single Season:
D’backs (2010) 9.44 Ks per game
Brewers (2001) 8.64
Marlins (2008) 8.52
Marlins (2010) 8.49
Reds (2004) 8.24

At their current rate, the A’s would fit in at fifth on the all-time list. But then the A’s hitters are racking up their 8.43 strikeouts per game while playing with the designated hitter rule, making their current rate almost as “impressive” in its way as that of the 2010 Diamondbacks. Here are the highest AL team strikeout rates ever:

Rays (2007) 8.17
Rays (2010) 7.98
Mariners (2011) 7.90
Indians (2011) 7.833
Tigers (1996) 7.827

The 2012 A’s are poised to break the AL record with ease. And if anything Oakland is picking up the pace. Through the end of July, Oakland batters were striking out at an 8.29 K/G rate for the season, but in August they been whiffing at an astounding 9.40 pace rivaling the rate of the 2010 Diamondbacks, who at least had the excuse that their pitchers were coming to bat. In the dog days of August, folks coming to ballparks across the country know that there will be a nice breeze in the ballpark when the A’s come to town.

It’s another indication of how things are going this year that the hitters I follow the most closely, the hitters for the Mets, are striking out at a much, much greater rate than any Mets team before, but in the context of this season is not otherwise particularly noteworthy. The 2012 Mets K/G rate currently sits at 7.82, compared to a 6.70 rate just last season and to their previous franchise season high of 7.38 way back in 1968. Yet the Mets’ rate this season is merely the 11th highest team rate in the majors in 2012.

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MikeD

12 years ago

I believe John mentioned the other day that MLB is on pace for the fifth straight season for a record-setting K%, with the percent increase this year higher than the previous four. That’s from memory, so maybe it’s wrong. If so, will that lead to a backlash against what we saw rise in the 1990s. Since it became apparent a few years back that run scoring was starting a downward trend, I’ve been curious to see if it will lead to a different approach by hitters, and/or valuing different skill sets in ball players. It may very well be that… Read more »

brp

12 years ago

Reply to MikeD

I’ve thought this for a while, too, but the minor leaguers being called up currently seem to have K-rates just as high as the “old guard” players. (I haven’t run any analysis on this so I could be incorrect). Check out Cubs’ recent call-up Brett Jackson for a good example. To me the stigma of striking out needs to return at least a little bit… guys like Michael Bourn shouldn’t ring up 150 Ks in a season! At some point this K-rate increase is going to reach the point of diminishing offensive returns and based on the low run-scoring environment… Read more »

Ken

12 years ago

Reply to MikeD

I used to think strikeouts per game had more or less increased steadily over time. But that has not always been the case. In 1980 it was 4.80, which was lower than in 1957 (4.84). I know the DH was in effect in 1980, but I was still really surprised when I saw that.

Editor

John Autin

12 years ago

Reply to Ken

Ken — Indeed, from 1903 (the first year that both leagues counted a foul ball as a strike) all the way through 1981, the K rate rose only from 9.5% of PAs to 12.5%, an increase of 32% over 78 years. From 1981 to 2012, the K rate rose from 12.5% to 19.6%, an increase of 57% over 31 years. Here’s the average for each 10-year period, starting with 1903-12: 1912 – 10.2% 1922 – 8.9% 1932 – 7.5% 1942 – 8.8% 1952 – 9.5% 1962 – 12.5% 1972 – 15.3% 1982 – 12.9% 1992 – 14.7% 2002 – 16.5%… Read more »

Brooklyn Mick

12 years ago

Is it coincidence, or are players striking out due to a philosophical shift in hitting strategy? The corresponding team records here are interesting: Most Strikeouts Per Game by Team’s Hitters, Single Season: D’backs (2010) 9.44 Ks per game (65-97, .401) Brewers (2001) 8.64 (68-94, .420) Marlins (2008) 8.52 (84-77, .522) Marlins (2010) 8.49 (80-82, .494) Reds (2004) 8.24 (76-86, .469) Here (above) you have four teams with sub-.500 records, two of which were downright awful. Among this years team leaders (below) in strikeout rate, however, four of the five leaders have winning records, are in the playoff hunt, and one… Read more »

Larry

12 years ago

Forgive this completely out of the blue question. I figured if anybody might know the answer, y’all would. I watched Billy Crystals movie *61, just a terrific movie. I went to YouTube to catch some highlights of the ’61 World Series. They showed the pregame where both starting pitchers were warming up in foul territory from circles near the on deck circles. They were throwing off flat “mounds” toward the backstop. At first, I thought it was something peculiar to Crosley Field. Then I saw the same thing in the pregame warm up for Game 2 of the 1963 WS… Read more »

Brooklyn Mick

12 years ago

Reply to Larry

Larry, I think they were warming up in their respective bullpens, which were located, as you said, in foul territory along the outfield lines. A few teams’ bullpens are still in that area for the sake of nostalgia. I think Wrigley, Oakland, San Fran, San Diego, and Tampa have bullpens in playable foul territory. My guess is that, in the case of Yankee Stadium, they moved the bullpens to the outfield when they reduced the dimensions of the field. I would also venture to say that back in the day, they put the bullpens on the field so as not… Read more »

Larry

12 years ago

Brooklyn, that isn’t exactly it. I remember the Astrodome had mounds where the pitcher threw parallel to the foul line. In the Dome, the pitcher had his back to the wall and he threw in the direction of first base (home team) or third base (visitors). The YouTube shots are something completely different:. Picture a circle in front of the dugout about halfway between first/third and the plate. It is about where they put mats down for coaches to hit fungoes to infielders these days. Both starting pitchers stand in the center of this dirt circle on flat ground and… Read more »

Larry

12 years ago

Another obscure question. Most of us know there was a time when fielders would leave their gloves out on the outfield grass between innings. I think a rule came about in the early 50’s that said you could not do that anymore, but some guys did it for a short time after that out of habit. Anyway, my question is this: how did the home team handle extra-innings? Did the home fielders take their gloves in with them at “walk-off” time? If they did, did the visiting team take it as an affront – did it break one of those… Read more »

Richard Chester

12 years ago

Reply to Larry

The new glove rule was enforced in 1954. Before that I am sure that in EI, and also for the bottom of the 9th, the home team fielders brought their gloves back to the dugout. Many parks, including Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds, allowed fans to exit via the playing field and any gloves left on the field would surely “disappear”. The Bobby Thomson HR in 1951 is a good example. So is the Chris Chambliss playoff HR in 1976.

Larry

12 years ago

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfKAugZfxNQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Brooklyn, this is the video I mentioned. For something else you won’t see again, check out the 2:20 mark. Koufax is on the mound. He takes the sign straddling the rubber, come to the set at the belt and THEN brings his (left) pivot foot in front of th rubber. They changed the rule for that too. I saw Koufax in person several times, but I do not recall the way they used to go into the stretch. But, there it is….

Brooklyn Mick

12 years ago

Reply to Larry

Thanks for the link Larry. You saw Koufax pitch several times? I’m jealous.

Editor

John Autin

12 years ago

I think we’d all agree that the “all-or-nothing” approach to hitting is more pervasive today than it was 30 or 60 years ago. That is, even the guys who don’t hit many HRs still strike out a lot. I tried to confirm and quantify that notion, in a quick-&-dirty way: For 2012, 1982 and 1952, I looked at all regular players, defined as 300 PAs per 162 scheduled games. I sorted each set by HR%, then separated the top 1/4 and bottom 1/4. Then I calculated the SO% for each subset, as a group. Finally, I compared the SO% of… Read more »

Doug

12 years ago

Reply to John Autin

Interesting results, John.

If you have a chance, would be curious if you could also show the SO per HR for each group. Just a hunch, but I’m thinking those numbers may be closer to each other for your three selected years.

Editor

John Autin

12 years ago

Reply to Doug

Good question, Doug. The ratio of SO/HR:

1952
All — 4.5 SO/HR
Hi-HR — 3.0
Lo-HR — 17.0

1982
All — 5.3 SO/HR
Hi-HR — 3.3
Lo-HR — 19.1

2012
All — 6.2 SO/HR
Hi-HR — 4.0
Lo-HR — 17.6

Doug

12 years ago

Reply to John Autin

Thanks John,

So, the trend is still evident but rather less pronounced when viewed in the context of the risk (SO) and reward (HR). In that context, the change to higher strikeouts is almost wholly in the domain of the high-HR group.

Editor

John Autin

12 years ago

Reply to Doug

Doug — That is one valid way of describing the trends. But here’s another perspective: What is a fair “price” in terms of SO per HR? It’s true that the low-HR guys are still paying roughly the same price today as they did in 1952. But since they’re buying a lot more HRs and paying with a lot more strikeouts — both rates having more than doubled for that designated group from 1952-2012 — it’s a pretty important question whether the extra HRs from that group are worth the price. And while the high-HR group is paying 33% more SO… Read more »

Doug

12 years ago

Reply to Doug

Bang on, John.

That’s the 64 dollar question (or $64M dollar question for the owner trying to decide which free agent he fancies). What indeed is the tradeoff value? Beats me. Have to leave that one to the serious number-crunching crowd like Tango and the boys.

Timmy Pea

12 years ago

A couple of very important items need mentioned. First is that Paul Konerko has come off the DL and hit 2 HR’s in games for the Sox. This is worth mentioning because Paully is the most underrated player in baseball, and could get to 500 home runs at which time he would be a lock for the Hall of Fame. The second thing worth mentioning is that Juan Pierre is only 2 SB’s off the league lead. This is important because Juan only plays part time and from time to time gets made fun of for having a small head… Read more »

Editor

John Autin

12 years ago

Reply to Timmy Pea

And Timmy Pea has come off the DL along with Konerko!

Timmy Pea

12 years ago

Reply to John Autin

Also Adam Dunn hit a homer tonight in a losing cause. It was the 400th homer of his career. He is 32 years old and hitting .209. He leads baseball in walks and strikeouts.

Doug

12 years ago

Reply to Timmy Pea

FWIW, Dunn and Mark McGwire (1998) appear to be the only players to reach 400 HR and 1000 RBI in the same season.

Doug

12 years ago

Reply to Doug

Speaking of multiple milestones, in addition to 2500 hits, Ichiro has also passed (or will pass) all of these milestones in 2012:
– 300 doubles
– 100 HR
– 100 CS
– 500 BB
– 800 SO

He’s also one HBP short of 50, but I wouldn’t want to bet he’ll get that last one before the end of the year.

Author

birtelcom

12 years ago

Reply to Timmy Pea

If you add up Dunn’s homers, Ks and BBs for the season, it comes to 293 TTOs (“Three True Outcome” results) thus far. With the White Sox having played 119 games, at his current pace Dunn would finish the season with about 398 TTOs. The top ten season TTO totals ever:
Mark McGwire (1998) 387
Ryan Howard (2007) 353
Adam Dunn (2004) 349
Ryan Howard (2006) 347
Adam Dunn (2006) 346
Jim Thome (2001) 345
Barry Bonds (2001) 343
Mark Reynolds (2009) 343
Jack Cust (2008) 341
Jim Thome (2003) 340

Author

birtelcom

12 years ago

Reply to Timmy Pea

As pointed out at The Hardball Times (http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/currently-historic-more-tto-fun/), the only player to lead the majors in homers, and Ks, and BBs all in the same full season is Babe Ruth, who did it in 1923, 1924 and 1927.

Richard Chester

12 years ago

Reply to birtelcom

That article mentioned three other players who led their league in TTO Hack Wilson (1930), Mike Schmidt (1983) and Dale Murphy (1985). They missed Mickey Mantle in 1958.

Brooklyn Mick

12 years ago

Reply to birtelcom

Amazing to think that Ruth never won a batting triple crown but won 4 TTO crowns. Also amazing that there have been 16 batting triple crown winners but only 8 TTO crown winners. A rare feat indeed.

Brooklyn Mick

12 years ago

Reply to birtelcom

I should clarify: there have been 16 seasons in which a player has won the batting triple crown and 8 seasons in which a player has won the TTO crown. Since Hornsby and Williams each won 2 batting triple crowns, it’s actually 14 players to win the batting triple crown and 5 players to win the TTO crown, with Ruth having won 4 of the 8.

Brooklyn Mick

12 years ago

I have a question. Actually a friend of mine has a question that I’m unable to answer definitively. Does an inside the park home run count as one of the Three True Outcomes? Logic tells me that it should not because it is a ball in play. Further, most TTO guys aren’t your prototypical inside the park home run types of players, maybe with the exception of Mantle and possibly Murphy, and I heard that Ruth hit 10 in his career. Still, an inside the park homer goes in the scorebook as a home run. Do statisticians go so deep… Read more »

Brooklyn Mick

12 years ago

Reply to Brooklyn Mick

And I realize that the whole concept of the TTO is to provide a lens, if you will, to view a certain type of player. That said, what about HBP’s?