All-Time High For Strikeouts Revisited

[KSaw]

Last year there were a couple national articles on the growing number of strikeouts across baseball. This year, with the crazy K pace, there has been more media attention and speculation as to why. This was discussed briefly last month in this forum.

 

Anyway, after thoughts of the the scouting being better or the pitchers being more specialized and the pitching being deeper and even the drop in PED using being the answer, the primary cause may simply be the rule changes to 8.01 in 2007 and the interpretation changes of 2012.

 

Hitters, pitchers and coaches seem to be slowly coming to the same conclusions. Pitchers not having to keep their ENTIRE pivot foot in contact with/ in front of the rubber gives pitchers 44+ inches of angle from 1st to 3rd base to deliver from, instead of just 24 and creates a new and almost unfair advantage. Pitchers can also now have their pivot foot lose all contact with the rubber while in the full windup if it reengages before release. Pitchers have recently been using this to land their foot at a drastically different place on the rubber to shift the hitter's view last moment and to release far from where they began the windup. This was not intended in the rule change. It was so pitchers would be ok if their back foot slightly lost contact as the foot shifted to its side, which was common. Pitchers are using the new freedom to as much advantage as possible!

 

It all may be as simple as the supposedly subtle rule changes and pitchers getting used to them and learning how to get away with more.

Edited July 24, 2013 by KSaw

[Caper]

Well.... You learn something new everyday.

[Jimcanuck]

TJS actually strengthening the arm may also have something to do with it

[Orgfiller]

Sam Miller thinks that this is what always happens after long stretches without expansion or mound lowering, which I think is an interesting theory. Basically, the quality of pitching in baseball increases at a higher rate the quality of hitting, and to counter-act it something has to be done once a decade or so.

 

I think the increase in effectiveness is displayed in velocity. Most MLB pitchers can hit 94 these days and you see many starters working in the mid-90s with regularity.

 

I too think this has something to do with it. Most top pitching prospects these days are highly touted because of their K rates in the minors, a lot of those times you'll see their repertoire is a good mid to high 90's fastball, a second out pitch, and then depending on how advanced probably a 3rd fringe pitch which they have to develop more. Same with kids that are being drafted, most first round pitchers can already touch mid 90's with some going above.

[KSaw]

All of it are factors. The question is what is the driving primary factor. The new rules for pitchers are quite dramatic. They seemed so subtle on paper. It is really worth mentioning. It won't take long for an experimental 20 inch pitcher's rubber to appear somewhere.