Not easy to K?

Just a few weeks ago, I just shared a George Kell’s relic card and reviewed some of his stats. Indeed, he was a great contact hitter and it was so hard to see a pitcher strike him out. In his career, he never finished a season with a strikeout rate of 10% or higher.

 

While reviewing Kell’s stats, I was just thinking if there are still players who have a low K-rate as well.

 

To understand a little bit more, I decided to check on the MLB website.

 

Firstly, let’s look back at the 2010 season. In 2010, there were 13 players who finished the season with a K-rate below 10%. In particular, Jeff Keppinger and Juan Pierre each had a K-rate below 7%. Keppinger was struck out 36 times in 137 games and Pierre got 47 strikeouts in 160 games.

In 2011, 13 players each finished the season with a strikeout percentage below 10%. Again, Juan Pierre was on the leaderboard. Pierre’s K-rate was only 5.8% in 2011 and Jose Reyes’ strikeout rate was 7.0%. Pierre played 158 games and Reyes played 126 games. They each had 41 strikeouts. The next season, there were 10 players who finished the season with a K-rate below 10%. Nonetheless, no players finished the season with a strikeout percentage below 7%.

In 2013, there were 7 players who finished the season with a K-rate below 10%. Norichika Aoki’s strikeout percentage was only 5.9%. He played 155 games and had only 40 strikeouts. Meanwhile, Marco Scutaro got 34 strikeouts in 127 games. His strikeout percentage was 6.2%. The next year, 8 players each finished the season with a K-rate below 10%. Victor Martinez blasted 32 home runs and collected 103 RBI in 2014. He was struck out only 42 times and his K-rate was 6.6%. In 2015, the number dropped and only 6 players had a strikeout percentage below 10%.

In addition, there were only 4 players who finished the season with a strikeout percentage below 10% in 2016. In 2017, Joe Panik was the only player with a K-rate below 10%. But in 2018, the number went up a little bit. There were 3 players who finished the season with a strikeout rate below 10%.

Finally, from 2019 to 2022, there were 2 players who finished the season with a strikeout percentage below 10% each season. In particular, Tommy La Stella’s K-rate was only 5.3% in 2020. Last year, only 1 player finished the season with a strikeout percentage below 10%. That player is Luis Arraez. He was struck out only 34 times over 147 games and his K-rate was only 5.5%.

Looking at the last 14 seasons, it’s very clear that we are seeing fewer players finish a season with a strikeout percentage below 10%. The last time that we saw 10+ players who finished a season with a K-rate below 10% was in 2012. In the short-term, this might not change dramatically. So far this season, Luis Arraez and Steven Kwan each have a K-rate below 10%.