More strikeouts?

 

Last month, I saw a pitcher who was dominant on the mound and he struck out a lot of batters in that game. Last season, I didn’t see him throw that many strikeouts. Hence, I was just wondering if his strikeout rate significantly increased this season.

 

To understand a little bit more, I went to check on the statcast website.

 

Strikeout % Changes (2021-2022)
Player	K% (2021)	K% (2022)	Change
Ryan Helsley	22.8	39.3	16.5 (+)
Edwin Diaz	34.6	50.2	15.6 (+)
Jose Alvarado	27.1	37.9	10.8 (+)
A.J. Minter	25.8	34.7	8.9 (+)
Griffin Jax	18.1	26.9	8.8 (+)
Andrew Heaney	26.9	35.5	8.6 (+)
Matt Moore	18.9	27.3	8.4 (+)
Rafael Montero	18.7	27	8.3 (+)
Sam Hentges	21.4	29.4	8 (+)

 

This season, Ryan Helsley became an All-Star for the first time in his career. He made a career-high 54 relief appearances and recorded 19 saves. He owned a 1.25 ERA and a 0.74 WHIP over a career-high 64.2 innings. Additionally, he punched out 94 batters in 2022 and his strikeout rate is nearly 40%. Helsley mainly relies on his four-seamer during the regular season. He uses his four-seamer 57% of the time and the average velocity is 99.6 mph. Last season, the average velocity of his four-seamer was 97.4 mph. Helsley’s strikeout rate was 22.8% and he had a 4.56 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP in 47.1 innings.

 

In addition, Edwin Diaz is another All-Star from the bullpen. Diaz has a fantastic season with a 1.31 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP. Opponents batted only .160 against Diaz. Moreover, Diaz threw 118 strikeouts in 2022 and his strikeout rate is over 50%. Most of those strikeouts come from his slider. Diaz’s slider usage increases from 37.8% to 58.1%. Last season, Diaz’s K% was 34.6%. He posted a 3.45 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP over 62.2 innings in 2021.

 

In late 2020, Jose Alvarado was traded to the Phillies. In 2021, Alvarado made 64 relief appearances, posting a 4.20 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP over 55.2 innings. He had 68 strikeouts and his K% was 27.1%. This season, Alvarado’s strikeout rate goes up to 37.9%. He has 81 strikeouts in 51 innings. Alvarado relies more on his cutter this season. Alvarado throws his cutter nearly 43% of the time this season and opponents only batted .119. Most of those strikeouts come from his cutter. Additionally, he used his sinker 77.2% last season, but his sinker usage drops to 54.5% this season.

 

Furthermore, A.J. Minter’s strikeout rate was 25.8% last year and this season, his strikeout rate is 34.7%. Minter increases his four-seamer usage from 42.5% to 49.8% and the average velocity is 96.6 mph. Opponents only batted .152 against Minter’s four-seam fastball.

 

Finally, Griffin Jax made his MLB debut last season and he used his four-seamer 45.9% of the time. This season, he throws his slider 48.4% of the time and his strikeout rate increases from 18.1% to 26.9%. Additionally, Andrew Heaney’s strikeout rate never reached 30% before. However, this season, his K% goes up to 35.5%. He threw his slider only 0.4% of the time last year. This season, Heaney uses his slider more than 30% of the time.

 

An increase in strikeout rate doesn’t come from nowhere. Ryan Helsley threw harder in 2022 and his four-seamer frequently touched triple digits. At the same time, Edwin Diaz, Griffin Jax and Andrew Heaney decided to throw a slider more often and the outcomes were great during the regular season.