In early July, I listened to a podcast show. In the show, an analyst indicated a pitcher’s pitch and he has used it to strike out many batters. And the analyst emphasized that pitcher’s great pitch.
After listening to the podcast show, I was just thinking about strikeouts by different pitch types. To solve my doubt, I decided to check on the statcast website.
Firstly, Max Scherzer is a 3-time Cy Young award winner and a member of the 3000 strikeout club. He has thrown 3400+ strikeouts so far in his career. From 2008 to 2024, Scherzer threw more than 1500 strikeouts via his four-seam fastballs. Indeed, Scherzer’s four-seamer is his main pitch arsenal and is very hard to hit. And there were 10 times that he used his four-seamer more than 50% of the time in a single season.
In addition, Justin Verlander is also a 3-time Cy Young award winner and a member of 3000 strikeout club. Verlander made his MLB debut in 2005 and now has 3400+ strikeouts in his career. From 2008 to 2024, Verlander struck out 1200+ hitters by using his four-seamer. Well, he didn’t pitch in 2021 due to recovery from Tommy John surgery. Otherwise, the number will surely be higher.
In April, Lance Lynn announced his retirement after playing 13 seasons in the majors. Lynn made his MLB debut in 2011. Four-seamer fastball is his primary pitch and there were several seasons that he used it more than 50% of the time. In his career, Lynn threw 2015 strikeouts and 1110 strikeouts were coming via his four-seamers.
Unfortunately, Gerrit Cole, who won the 2023 AL Cy Young award, misses the entire 2025 season because of undergoing Tommy John surgery. However, when he’s healthy, Cole is one of the best pitchers in the majors. Cole made his MLB debut in 2013. So far in his career, he has 2251 strikeouts. Among those 2251 strikeouts, more than 1000 strikeouts were coming via his four-seamer.
Finally, J.A. Happ pitched in the majors from 2007 to 2021. He threw 1661 strikeouts in those 15 seasons. Well, he only threw 5 strikeouts in 2007. So, from 2008 to 2021, Happ struck out more than 1600 batters. Take a closer look at those 1600+ strikeouts, he used his four-seamer to strike out 1000+ batters. Additionally, Kershaw struck out 800+ batters via his four-seamer from 2008 to 2024.
Looking at the pitchers who had thrown a lot of strikeouts via four-seam fastballs over the last 17 seasons, there’s little surprise to see Cy Young award winners on the leaderboard. Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole can throw a four-seamer that touches 100 mph. In particular, Verlander and Cole can throw really hard. However, Lance Lynn and J.A. Happ are a bit different. Lynn’s four-seam can reach 95 mph, nonetheless, it’s not as often as Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander. And J.A. Happ didn’t throw that hard and his four-seamers occasionally reached 95 mph. Nevertheless, Lynn and Happ can still generate strikeouts with their four-seamers.
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