With the 2020 season hopefully coming in the near future, we’re going to continue going over numbers from last year. Today, we are going to look at which starters and relievers had the highest strikeout rates in the game in 2019.
Highest K% From 2019
Before we get into the lists, we’re going to go over how we did the calculation. In order to calculate K%, we simply take the numbers of strikeouts a pitcher recorded, and divide that by the number of batters he faced. Our calculation, though, will look a bit different than other sites, as we took intentional walks out of the equation. This makes the rate a bit more precise since batters don’t face any pitches during an IBB.
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In order to qualify for this list, a reliever must have thrown at least 50 innings, while a starter needed to throw at least 100 innings. With that said, let’s get into the lists.
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Highest K% – Relievers
| # | Team | Player | K% |
| 1 | Brewers | Josh Hader | 48.1% |
| 2 | Marlins/Rays | Nick Anderson | 42.3% |
| 3 | Padres | Kirby Yates | 41.7% |
| 4 | Blue Jays | Ken Giles | 40.1% |
| 5 | Mets | Edwin Diaz | 39.4% |
| 6 | Red Sox | Matt Barnes | 38.9% |
| 7 | Pirates | Felipe Vazquez | 38.1% |
| 8 | Athletics | Liam Hendriks | 37.9% |
| 9 | Giants | Will Smith | 37.6% |
| 10 | Astros | Josh James | 37.6% |
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Highest K% – Starters
| # | Team | Player | K% |
| 1 | Astros | Gerrit Cole | 39.9% |
| 2 | Red Sox | Chris Sale | 35.6% |
| 3 | Astros | Justin Verlander | 35.4% |
| 4 | Nationals | Max Scherzer | 35.2% |
| 5 | Indians | Mike Clevinger | 33.9% |
| 6 | Rays | Blake Snell | 33.4% |
| 7 | White Sox | Lucas Giolito | 32.4% |
| 8 | Mets | Jacob deGrom | 31.8% |
| 9 | Diamondbacks | Robbie Ray | 31.7% |
| 10 | Cubs | Yu Darvish | 31.4% |
| 11 | Rays | Charlie Morton | 30.4% |
| 12 | Tigers | Matthew Boyd | 30.2% |
| 13 | Indians | Shane Bieber | 30.2% |
| 14 | Cardinals | Jack Flaherty | 30.0% |
| 15 | Nationals | Stephen Strasburg | 30.0% |
| 16 | Yankees | James Paxton | 29.4% |
| 17 | Dodgers | Walker Buehler | 29.2% |
| 18 | Brewers | Brandon Woodruff | 29.0% |
| 19 | Reds | Sonny Gray | 29.0% |
| 20 | Reds | Luis Castillo | 29.0% |
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