In 2019, strikeouts and home runs are at an all-time high. If you only watch the Giants, you wouldn’t notice the home run surge, but you’d definitely notice the strikeouts. Tyler Austin is striking more than any other Giant before him, but the spike has benefited the pitchers as well. Halfway through the year, the Giants currently have two of the top strikeout seasons in Giants history (min 30 IP.). Those two pitchers, of course, are Reyes Moronta and Will Smith. Smith and Moronta also posted top-ten strikeout rates last year.

A 30-inning minimum is a teeny tiny sample, but small samples should see more extreme numbers. That two pitchers have seen two of the ten most extreme half seasons is remarkable. Below is a table of the ten best seasons by strikeout percentage including K%+. K%+ measures a player’s performance against league average in that season. Each point above 100 means a player was one percent better than league average, and each point below means they were one percent worse than league average. For instance, Will Smith’s 178 K%+ means he’s 78 percent better than the average 2019 pitcher at striking batters out.

Ten Best Strikeout Rates in Giants History Season Player IP K% K%+ Season Player IP K% K%+ 2019 Will Smith 31.1 40.9 178 2011 Sergio Romo 48 40 210 2000 Robb Nen 66 35.9 210 2018 Will Smith 53 33.8 151 1994 Mike Jackson 42.1 32.3 197 2019 Reyes Moronta 33.2 31 135 2015 Sergio Romo 57 30.9 149 1998 Robb Nen 88.2 30.8 176 1987 Joe Price 35 30.7 196 2018 Reyes Moronta 65 30.2 134

A few things stand out looking at this table. First, of course most of these seasons came within the last ten years. Second, hell yeah, Robb Nen ruled. Third, hell yeah, Sergio Romo rules.

Joe Price is an interesting name to see on this list because in his 11-year career, he had a 17.2 percent strikeout rate and aside from his 1987 season, never more than 22.8 percent. Much has been written about the 1994 Expos and what could have been if the strike hadn’t shortened the season, but we don’t talk nearly enough about how Mike Jackson led the league in a stat that no one paid attention to (assuming you set the innings minimum sufficiently low).

Compared to their contemporaries, Smith and Moronta still look great, but they aren’t as extreme an outlier as Nen or Romo. Smith is striking out more batters than any other Giant before him, but he’s still not the best in the league. Smith’s 40.9 strikeout percentage might be the best mark in Giants history, but it still ranks fourth in the majors behind Josh Hader, Kirby Yates, and Matt Barnes.

In another month, Smith will be striking batters out for another team, and there’s a chance Moronta will be as well. Sad to say, the prospects they bring back will be their greatest contribution to the Giants. They simply don’t have enough leads to protect, and their talents are largely wasted on this team. Enjoy them for as long as you can.