At the beginning of the 2023 season, I chatted with some friends while I was watching a baseball game. During the game, a player was struck out 3 times. It seemed that he had no ideas in that game. However, the next day, he crushed a home run and helped the team win the game. Then, a friend texted in a chat group and indicated that the player is “collecting strikeouts for a home run.”
Well, I don’t know whether this concept is correct. Nonetheless, I just thought about a stat, trying to understand a little more about the relation between home runs and strikeouts.
My idea is simple, to create a home run-to-strikeout ratio. The number isn’t complicated. Just need to divide the total number of home runs by the total number of strikeouts.
By using this ratio, I firstly look at the HR/SO ratio in the 2022 season. Last year, the Yankees and the Astros were the only 2 teams with an HR/K rate over 18%. The Yankees blasted 254 home runs, most among 30 MLB teams. And the Yankees batters were struck out 1391 times during the regular season. At the same time, the Astros blasted 200+ home runs in 2022. Well, they didn’t hit as many home runs as the Yankees, but the Astros batters were only struck out 1179 times, which was the second fewest among 30 MLB teams.
In the meantime, 6 other teams each had an HR/K ratio of at least 15%. Well, most of the 30 MLB teams owned an HR/K rate over 10% last season. However, there were 2 teams that finished the 2022 season with an HR/K rate below 10%. The Oakland A’s had an HR/K rate of 9.9% in 2022 and the Tigers’ HR/K rate was 7.8%. These two teams were the only teams that finished the 2022 season with an OPS below .650. In particular, the Tigers only had 110 home runs last year.
Now, let’s take a look at the number this season. At this moment, no team has an HR/K rate over 20%. However, 3 teams each have an HR/SO ratio over 19%. The Tampa Bay Rays now lead the majors with 46 wins. So far, the Rays are the only team that posts an OPS over .810. They already crushed 108 home runs and they didn’t have too many strikeouts. Meanwhile, the Braves and the Dodgers each blasted 100+ home runs as well and they each now owned an HR/K rate over 19%. And, interestingly, there are 4 teams that have an HR/K rate below 10%. Among those 4 teams, 2 teams haven’t reached 50 home runs yet.
It was fun chatting with some friends about baseball and the talk makes me think of this interesting stat. The home run-to-strikeout ratio isn’t complicated. However, it helps me to review MLB teams’ hitting performance. The Rays have certainly done a great job so far this season. Additionally, the Braves and the Dodgers can crush baseballs and it’s not so easy to strike them out.
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