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Striking Out Without Getting On.

Posted by Raphy on November 27, 2009

In the 2009 season there were 4 players who came to the plate at least 300 times and struck out more than they reached base.

Rk Player OPS+ SO TOB PA Year Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB HBP BA OBP SLG OPS Pos
1 Miguel Olivo 103 126 121 416 2009 KCR AL 114 390 51 97 15 5 23 65 19 0 5 .249 .292 .490 .781 *2D
2 Chris Davis 85 150 119 419 2009 TEX AL 113 391 48 93 15 1 21 59 24 2 2 .238 .284 .442 .726 *35/D
3 Jarrod Saltalamac 70 97 89 310 2009 TEX AL 84 283 34 66 12 0 9 34 22 1 1 .233 .290 .371 .661 *2/D
4 Bill Hall 58 120 94 365 2009 TOT ML 110 334 32 67 20 1 8 36 27 0 0 .201 .258 .338 .596 *579/48
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/27/2009.
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Hall (1.277) and Davis's (1.261)  ratios of strikeouts to times on base  were the second and third highest in baseball history (min. 300 PA). The only player with with a higher ratio was pitcher Frank Meinke, who struck out 89 times, while only reaching base 62 for the 1884 Detroit Wolverines (ah,  the memories) . (Meinke also had a W-L record of 8-23 that year.)

Meanwhile, Olivo became the 12th player to strikeout more often than he reached base and still post an OPS+ of 100 or higher. As Gerry and I mentioned in the PI Tag thread, only Dave Nicholson has done so while qualifying for a batting title.

Rk Player OPS+ SO TOB PA Year Age Tm G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB HBP BA OBP SLG OPS Pos
1 Pete Incaviglia 117 153 150 467 1988 24 TEX 116 418 59 104 19 3 22 54 39 3 7 .249 .321 .467 .788 *7D
2 Dave Kingman 109 122 105 351 1973 24 SFG 112 305 54 62 10 1 24 55 41 3 2 .203 .300 .479 .779 *53/1
3 Russell Branyan 108 132 114 361 2001 25 CLE 113 315 48 73 16 2 20 54 38 1 3 .232 .316 .486 .802 *57/D9
4 Bo Jackson 108 146 134 468 1988 25 KCR 124 439 63 108 16 4 25 68 25 6 1 .246 .287 .472 .758 *79/8D
5 Dave Nicholson 107 175 166 520 1963 23 CHW 126 449 53 103 11 4 22 70 63 0 0 .229 .319 .419 .738 *7
6 Wily Mo Pena 105 116 102 335 2005 23 CIN 99 311 42 79 17 0 19 51 20 0 3 .254 .304 .492 .796 *987
7 Mark McGwire 105 118 115 364 2001 37 STL 97 299 48 56 4 0 29 64 56 3 3 .187 .316 .492 .808 *3
8 Miguel Olivo 103 126 121 416 2009 30 KCR 114 390 51 97 15 5 23 65 19 0 5 .249 .292 .490 .781 *2D
9 Russell Branyan 102 151 139 435 2002 26 TOT 134 378 50 86 13 1 24 56 51 3 2 .228 .320 .458 .777 *753/D
10 Dave Kingman 102 125 118 393 1974 25 SFG 121 350 41 78 18 2 18 55 37 2 3 .223 .302 .440 .742 *35/97
11 Melvin Nieves 101 158 156 484 1996 24 DET 120 431 71 106 23 4 24 60 44 2 6 .246 .322 .485 .807 *97D
12 Rolando Roomes 100 100 99 334 1989 27 CIN 107 315 36 83 18 5 7 34 13 0 3 .263 .296 .419 .715 798
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/27/2009.

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Most of the players listed were young. Oliva however, is not. In fact, with the exception of Mark McGwire, Oliva is the oldest player to ever accomplish this feat.

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In terms of career numbers, only 4 players in history have posted an OPS+ of at least 100 with more strikeouts than times on base in at least 200 career PA. Three of those players are active.

Rk Player PA OPS+ SO TOB From To G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB HBP GDP BA OBP SLG OPS
1 Russell Branyan 2824 113 946 934 1998 2009 882 2431 347 568 117 8 164 396 339 27 27 23 .234 .331 .491 .822
2 Bo Jackson 2626 112 841 812 1986 1994 694 2393 341 598 86 14 141 415 200 20 14 40 .250 .309 .474 .784
3 Kelly Shoppach 1043 105 339 338 2005 2009 310 909 134 219 60 0 43 141 88 3 31 19 .241 .327 .449 .776
4 Chris Davis 736 103 238 224 2008 2009 193 686 99 177 38 3 38 114 44 3 3 11 .258 .304 .488 .793
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/27/2009.

Related posts:

    Striking Out To Win the Game
    Striking out the side / Edwar Ramirez
    Striking Out Half the Time in the Post Season

This entry was posted on Friday, November 27th, 2009 at 11:15 am and is filed under Season Finders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

4 Responses to “Striking Out Without Getting On.”

  1. dave Says:
    November 27th, 2009 at 12:32 pm

    Holy flying rat's butt! The Tigers of 1996 are the only team to have 2 or more players in the same season with more strikeouts than times on base (minimum 100 strikeouts)
    They are Tony Clark and Melvin Nieves

  2. Andy Says:
    November 27th, 2009 at 1:50 pm

    Tough to read this without thinking of Mark Reynolds. A quick check shows that in 2009 he was on base 231 times versus 223 strikeouts. Last year he qualified easily with 196 TOB and 204 K's (but an OPS+ under 100.)

  3. SpastikMooss Says:
    November 27th, 2009 at 9:53 pm

    Bo Jackson, really? I never figured he was such a strikeout machine - guess I just never knew.

    Also Meinke's 1884 stat line makes me laugh. Sort of a reverse George Foreman, as in "you're not going to get a lot, but you'll pay a lot."

  4. JohnnyTwisto Says:
    November 29th, 2009 at 12:36 pm

    Re Bo Jackson the strikeout machine, check post 8 in this thread: http://www.baseball-reference.com/blog/archives/3583

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