1/25/2023

300 K?


A few weeks ago, I was watching some baseball highlights and saw a legendary pitcher punch out several batters in a game. In his career, there were several times that he threw 300+ strikeouts in a single season. And, I began to wonder whether there are some batters who used to be struck out 300+ times in a single season.


Strikeouts (Batter, Single Season)

Player

SO

Year

Mark Reynolds

223

2009

Adam Dunn

222

2012

Chris Davis

219

2016

Yoan Moncada

217

2018

Joey Gallo

213

2021

Chris Carter

212

2013

Mark Reynolds

211

2010

Giancarlo Stanton

2018

Chris Davis

208

2015

Aaron Judge

2017

Joey Gallo

207

2018

Chris Carter

206

2016

Drew Stubbs

205

2011

Mark Reynolds

204

2008

Matt Chapman

202

2021

Kyle Schwarber

200

2022


Well, the answer is that no batters who used to be struck out 300+ times in a single season. However, 10+ batters used to be struck out at least 200 times in a single season.


In 2009, Mark Reynolds slashed .260/.349/.543 with 44 home runs and 102 RBI in 155 games. Additionally, he stole 24 bases. However, Reynolds was struck out 223 times in 2009 and that’s the MLB record of the most strikeouts in a single season as a batter. Moreover, Reynolds was struck out 204 times in 2008 and he was struck out 211 times in 2010.


In addition, Adam Dunn is a two-time All-Star. He was selected to the All-Star game in 2002 and 2012. In 2002, he batted .249/.400/.454 with 26 home runs and 71 RBI in 158 games. In 2012, he was hitting .204/.333/.468 with 41 home runs and 96 RBI. But, Adam Dunn had 222 strikeouts in 2012. He has 2379 strikeouts, 3rd most career strikeouts by a batter.


Moreover, Chris Davis announced retirement in 2021. In his career, he was struck out 1852 times. Davis was struck out 208 times in 2015 and had 219 strikeouts in 2016. But, he crushed 47 home runs in 2015 and smashed 38 home runs in 2016.


Furthermore, Yoan Moncada has been playing in the majors for 7 seasons. By far in his career, he hits .253/.334/.425 with 82 home runs and 299 RBI. Moncada has 800 career strikeouts and in 2018, he was struck out 217 times. Additionally, Joey Gallo signed a 1-year deal with the Twins in December. Gallo was struck out 213 times in 2021 and he only had 99 hits. 38 of those 99 hits were home runs. Besides, Gallo was stuck out 207 times in 2018.


Finally, in 2022, Kyle Schwarber was struck out 200 times, which was the most last year. Meanwhile, the 2022 AL MVP Aaron Judge crushed 62 home runs last year and he was struck out 175 times. In 2017, Judge was struck out 208 times.


In today’s baseball games, three-true-outcomes have been very common. It’s not rare to see batters be struck out in a game. However, in the 2023 season, there are several rule changes and a key change is to limit defensive shifts, which is to attempt to increase more balls in play. Looking at those players who were struck out 200+ times in a single season, most of those cases happened after 2010. Gradually, the shifts have become common since 2010. With the rule change in 2023, let’s see whether there will be a huge increase in balls in play and a significant decrease in strikeouts. 

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