Strikeouts early in a career
Posted by Andy on April 13, 2009
Mark Reynolds set the single-season strikeout record last year, a fact I somehow totally missed until a few weeks ago. He whiffed 204 times in 539 AB.
Here are the leaders for most strikeouts in the first two seasons:
Cnt Player **SO** From To Ages G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions Teams +----+-----------------+--------+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+----+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+-----------+ 1 Pete Incaviglia 353 1986 1987 22-23 292 1169 1049 167 273 47 6 57 168 103 3 5 0 12 17 12 5 .260 .326 .480 .806 79/D TEX 2 Mark Reynolds 333 2007 2008 23-24 263 1027 905 149 231 48 7 45 159 101 4 8 2 11 15 11 3 .255 .332 .473 .805 *5/493 ARI 3 Pat Burrell 301 2000 2001 23-24 266 1092 947 127 245 56 3 45 168 133 9 6 0 6 17 2 1 .259 .352 .467 .819 *7/3D PHI 4 Dan Uggla 290 2006 2007 26-27 313 1411 1243 218 327 75 10 58 178 116 1 22 11 19 15 8 7 .263 .332 .479 .811 *4/D FLA 5 Cory Snyder 289 1986 1987 23-24 260 1048 993 132 249 45 3 57 151 47 4 1 1 6 11 7 4 .251 .284 .474 .758 *9/675D CLE 6 Bobby Bonds 271 1968 1969 22-23 239 1069 929 175 239 35 11 41 125 119 3 11 4 6 9 61 11 .257 .346 .451 .797 SFG 7 George Scott 271 1966 1967 22-23 321 1322 1166 147 318 39 14 46 172 128 23 12 5 11 38 14 8 .273 .348 .449 .797 *3/5 BOS 8 Darryl Strawberry 259 1983 1984 21-22 269 1075 942 138 239 42 11 52 171 122 24 4 1 6 13 46 14 .254 .340 .487 .827 *9/8 NYM 9 Alex Gordon 257 2007 2008 23-24 285 1171 1036 132 262 71 5 31 119 107 9 19 2 7 20 23 6 .253 .332 .421 .753 *5/36D KCR 10 Delino DeShields 247 1990 1991 21-22 280 1245 1062 152 278 43 10 14 96 161 5 6 9 7 16 98 45 .262 .360 .361 .721 *4 MON
Notice that Reynolds had the fewest PAs and ABs of anybody on this list. The overall numbers for the first 8 guys are remarkably similar, actually, in terms of total HR, RBI, BA, OPS, etc. I am very surprised by that.
It makes me wonder what type of career Reynolds will have. Of those first 8 guys, they were all players with some great peak years, and many of them had great careers. But it's also true that some of them--Incaviglia, Snyder, Strawberry come to mind--had disappointing careers based on expectations.
April 13th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
I had no memory that DeShields struck out so much.
April 14th, 2009 at 8:26 am
Actually, over the course of his career, he didn't. He only struck out more than 83 times in a season 4 times - but 3 of those 4 times were in his first 3 seasons (96, 151, 108 K). It seemed that he learned at least a modicum plate discipline after those 3 seasons. Where the rest of the guys on the list averaged a strikeout per 4.7 or fewer PA for their careers(except George Scott, at 1 K/5.8 PA), Delino averaged 1 K per 6.3 PA. He only dipped below 1 K per 4.7 PA for a season twice - in his second and final seasons. If you take away those first 3 years, he averaged 1 K per 6.8 PA. If you just look at the middle of his career (taking away the first 3 and last 2 years), he averaged 1 K per 7.1 PA. So while he's no Tony Gwynn, he doesn't fit the mold of the other sluggers on this list, either.
April 15th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Where's Ryan Howard? You can't possibly count his 39 AB in 2004 as a season. Excluding those AB, in 05 and 06 with 893 AB (Less than anyone on that list), he struck out 281 times! He had 1052 PA (third lowest on the list) and his strikeouts places him 5th among these players. Not to mention, he saw three strikes every 3.74 PA which also puts him 5th on this list for K/PA. More on Howard: he's getting worse; with back to back seasons with 199 strikeouts. He's over rated.
Statman