One of the pleasures of baseball lies in the ease of its translation. Though the game certainly has had its distinct eras, an evolution of rules and enforcement and training, the consistency of baseball is unrivaled by the like of football or basketball. Baseball has never had to struggle with a reconception of its most basic elements, like what a catch and a foul are; certainly, the game has changed, but in the past hundred years it’s at least recognizable.

But the statistical environment of different eras do obviously fluctuate, and we as fans struggle to encompass this. Not that we aren’t aware of it; we know a 3.00 ERA in 1968 means something very different than that same mark in 1999. But it requires an annoying internalized equation, a consistent demand to double the numbers and add 30. It leads us to rough approximations at best, and often lulls us to the siren’s song of the Fun Fact over the untranslated truth.

This isn’t intellectual dishonesty. Rate stats are all well and good, but nothing captures the heart like a milestone. Numbers like 3,000 hits and 300 wins and 500 home runs still pull at us, despite the fact that some of those lights have receded from or washed up on the shore. Even the benchmarks of our rate stats require constant supervision: the career K/9 of Nolan Ryan, for example, is 9.55, a strong number, and one just shy of James Shields’ 2015 season.

We have some statistics that deal with this. Weighted on-base average (wOBA) and Baseball Prospectus’ True Average both seek to approximate a player’s offensive contribution and condense it into a single number, consistent across eras, and do so admirably. But neither is particularly intuitive: say a batter has a .330 wOBA. Is that average? If you’ve spent your time dealing with steroid era numbers, it’ll look low. One person could come away happier with a number than another person. Statistics like wRC+ and ERA+ remove this doubt by adjusting to 100: 102 is two percent higher than average, 98 is two percent lower. It’s far easier to visualize. But certain statistics have been left out in the cold.

If there’s a single defining feature of the modern, post-steroid game of baseball, it’s not runs allowed or home runs hit. It’s strikeouts, which continue to climb at climate change-level rates. At a glance, the all-time K/9 reveals that five of the top six strikeout pitchers of all time will pitch in 2016. You have to go all the way to 46th place to find someone who pitched before the mid-80s (Dick Radatz), and to get there you have to pass by such luminaries as Marlins middle reliever Mike Dunn and journeyman Michael Gonzalez. Clearly, the numbers we use to define greatness have gotten away from us a little.

The solution: league-adjusted strikeout rate. It’s nothing fancy:

(strikeouts / batters faced) / (league strikeouts / league batters faced) * 100

A pitcher who struck out the exact same ratio of batters as the league he played in that year would score 100; twice as many would score 200, half as many 50. Higher is, assuming you’re rooting for the pitcher, better.

Seasonal K%+ Scores

STARTING PITCHING SEASONAL K%+ SCORES, TOP 100 & BOTTOM 10 Rank Season Name Team Lg TBF K K% Lg K% Lg K%+ 1 1924 Dazzy Vance Robins NL 1221 262 0.215 0.072 298 2 1925 Dazzy Vance Robins NL 1089 221 0.203 0.071 287 3 1926 Dazzy Vance Robins NL 713 140 0.196 0.071 276 4 1937 Bob Feller Indians AL 651 150 0.230 0.091 253 5 1926 Lefty Grove Athletics AL 1072 194 0.181 0.072 251 6 1928 Dazzy Vance Robins NL 1126 200 0.178 0.071 251 7 1999 Pedro Martinez Red Sox AL 835 313 0.375 0.157 239 8 1923 Dazzy Vance Robins NL 1187 197 0.166 0.071 235 9 1941 Johnny Vander Meer Reds NL 945 202 0.214 0.092 232 10 1928 Lefty Grove Athletics AL 1075 183 0.170 0.076 224 11 1927 Lefty Grove Athletics AL 1106 174 0.157 0.071 223 12 1927 Dazzy Vance Robins NL 1123 184 0.164 0.074 223 13 1939 Bob Feller Indians AL 1243 246 0.198 0.089 222 14 1955 Herb Score Indians AL 978 245 0.251 0.113 222 15 1995 Randy Johnson Mariners AL 866 294 0.339 0.154 221 16 1976 Nolan Ryan Angels AL 1195 327 0.274 0.124 220 17 2000 Pedro Martinez Red Sox AL 817 284 0.348 0.158 220 18 1933 Dizzy Dean Cardinals NL 1202 199 0.166 0.076 219 19 1978 Nolan Ryan Angels AL 1008 260 0.258 0.118 218 20 1938 Bob Feller Indians AL 1248 240 0.192 0.088 218 21 2001 Pedro Martinez Red Sox AL 456 163 0.357 0.165 216 22 1930 Bill Hallahan Cardinals NL 1045 177 0.169 0.079 215 23 1938 Joe Krakauskas Senators AL 551 104 0.189 0.088 214 24 1957 Sandy Koufax Dodgers NL 444 122 0.275 0.128 214 25 1989 Nolan Ryan Rangers AL 988 301 0.305 0.143 214 26 1973 Nolan Ryan Angels AL 1355 383 0.283 0.132 214 27 1956 Herb Score Indians AL 1022 263 0.257 0.121 214 28 1946 Hal Newhouser Tigers AL 1176 275 0.234 0.110 213 29 1984 Dwight Gooden Mets NL 879 276 0.314 0.148 212 30 1928 George Earnshaw Athletics AL 728 117 0.161 0.076 212 31 1932 Red Ruffing Yankees AL 1098 190 0.173 0.082 210 32 1946 Bob Feller Indians AL 1512 348 0.230 0.110 209 33 1997 Randy Johnson Mariners AL 850 291 0.342 0.164 209 34 1936 Van Mungo Dodgers NL 1313 238 0.181 0.087 209 35 1928 Pat Malone Cubs NL 1048 155 0.148 0.071 209 36 1930 Lefty Grove Athletics AL 1191 209 0.175 0.084 208 37 2001 Randy Johnson Diamondbacks NL 994 372 0.374 0.180 208 38 1930 Dazzy Vance Robins NL 1061 173 0.163 0.079 207 39 1977 Nolan Ryan Angels AL 1272 341 0.268 0.130 207 40 1924 Walter Johnson Senators AL 1148 158 0.138 0.067 207 41 1926 Jakie May Reds NL 703 103 0.147 0.071 206 42 1974 Nolan Ryan Angels AL 1392 367 0.264 0.129 205 43 1980 J.R. Richard Astros NL 438 119 0.272 0.133 204 44 1940 Bob Feller Indians AL 1304 261 0.200 0.098 204 45 1942 Johnny Vander Meer Reds NL 1017 186 0.183 0.090 204 46 1975 Frank Tanana Angels AL 1029 269 0.261 0.129 203 47 1979 Nolan Ryan Angels AL 937 223 0.238 0.117 203 48 2000 Randy Johnson Diamondbacks NL 1001 347 0.347 0.171 203 49 1929 Pat Malone Cubs NL 1152 166 0.144 0.072 201 50 1970 Tom Hall Twins AL 619 184 0.297 0.148 201 51 1935 Johnny Allen Yankees AL 692 113 0.163 0.081 201 52 1931 Dazzy Vance Robins NL 918 150 0.163 0.081 201 53 1991 Nolan Ryan Rangers AL 683 203 0.297 0.148 200 54 1962 Sandy Koufax Dodgers NL 744 216 0.290 0.145 200 55 1993 Randy Johnson Mariners AL 1043 308 0.295 0.148 200 56 1979 J.R. Richard Astros NL 1175 313 0.266 0.134 199 57 1978 Ron Guidry Yankees AL 1057 248 0.235 0.118 198 58 1999 Randy Johnson Diamondbacks NL 1079 364 0.337 0.170 198 59 1987 Nolan Ryan Astros NL 873 270 0.309 0.156 198 60 1932 Dizzy Dean Cardinals NL 1203 191 0.159 0.080 198 61 1978 J.R. Richard Astros NL 1139 303 0.266 0.135 197 62 1936 Johnny Allen Indians AL 1030 165 0.160 0.082 196 63 1926 Bob Shawkey Yankees AL 445 63 0.142 0.072 196 64 1945 Preacher Roe Pirates NL 936 148 0.158 0.081 196 65 1976 Dennis Eckersley Indians AL 821 200 0.244 0.124 196 66 1929 Lefty Grove Athletics AL 1168 170 0.146 0.075 195 67 1941 Bob Feller Indians AL 1466 260 0.177 0.091 195 68 1933 Lefty Gomez Yankees AL 1027 163 0.159 0.081 195 69 1931 Bump Hadley Senators AL 768 124 0.161 0.083 195 70 1943 Allie Reynolds Indians AL 819 151 0.184 0.095 195 71 1939 Johnny Vander Meer Reds NL 593 102 0.172 0.088 194 72 1972 Nolan Ryan Angels AL 1154 329 0.285 0.147 194 73 1990 Nolan Ryan Rangers AL 818 232 0.284 0.147 193 74 1924 Bob Shawkey Yankees AL 892 114 0.128 0.067 192 75 1998 Randy Johnson – – – MLB 1014 329 0.324 0.169 192 76 1988 Roger Clemens Red Sox AL 1063 291 0.274 0.143 191 77 1994 Randy Johnson Mariners AL 694 204 0.294 0.154 191 78 1982 Mario Soto Reds NL 1033 274 0.265 0.139 191 79 1948 Ewell Blackwell Reds NL 599 114 0.190 0.100 190 80 1937 Van Mungo Dodgers NL 665 122 0.183 0.096 190 81 1998 Kerry Wood Cubs NL 699 233 0.333 0.175 190 82 1944 Max Lanier Cardinals NL 908 141 0.155 0.082 190 83 1932 Lefty Grove Athletics AL 1207 188 0.156 0.082 189 84 1933 Roy Parmelee Giants NL 924 132 0.143 0.076 189 85 2002 Pedro Martinez Red Sox AL 787 239 0.304 0.161 189 86 2002 Johan Santana Twins AL 452 137 0.303 0.161 188 87 1931 Carl Hubbell Giants NL 1010 155 0.153 0.081 188 88 1965 Sandy Koufax Dodgers NL 1297 382 0.295 0.157 188 89 1945 Hal Newhouser Tigers AL 1261 212 0.168 0.090 188 90 1925 Lefty Grove Athletics AL 908 116 0.128 0.068 187 91 1947 Ewell Blackwell Reds NL 1086 193 0.178 0.095 187 92 1992 Randy Johnson Mariners AL 922 241 0.261 0.140 186 93 1932 Lefty Gomez Yankees AL 1149 176 0.153 0.082 186 94 1937 Lefty Gomez Yankees AL 1148 194 0.169 0.091 185 95 1983 Jose DeLeon Pirates NL 438 118 0.269 0.145 185 96 1959 Sandy Koufax Dodgers NL 679 173 0.255 0.138 185 97 1965 Sam McDowell Indians AL 1116 325 0.291 0.158 185 98 2006 Francisco Liriano Twins AL 473 144 0.304 0.165 185 99 2002 Randy Johnson Diamondbacks NL 1035 334 0.323 0.175 185 100 1976 Frank Tanana Angels AL 1142 261 0.229 0.124 184 101 1931 Bill Hallahan Cardinals NL 1061 159 0.150 0.081 184 102 1981 Fernando Valenzuela Dodgers NL 758 180 0.237 0.129 184 10,995 1924 Ernie Wingard Browns AL 947 23 0.024 0.067 36 10,996 1951 Sam Zoldak Athletics AL 525 18 0.034 0.096 36 10,997 1945 Bill Lee – – – MLB 820 25 0.030 0.085 36 10,998 1935 George Blaeholder – – – MLB 744 22 0.030 0.083 35 10,999 1934 Benny Frey Reds NL 1058 33 0.031 0.088 35 11,000 1920 Slim Sallee – – – MLB 549 15 0.027 0.077 35 11,001 2003 Nate Cornejo Tigers AL 842 46 0.055 0.157 35 11,002 1950 Joe Haynes Senators AL 465 15 0.032 0.094 34 11,003 1919 Slim Sallee Reds NL 893 24 0.027 0.080 34 11,004 1939 Bill Beckmann Athletics AL 692 20 0.029 0.089 32 11,005 1946 Jim Bagby Red Sox AL 476 16 0.034 0.110 31 11,006 2005 Kirk Rueter Giants NL 489 25 0.051 0.169 30

What we can learn from this:

Dazzy Vance is the greatest starting strikeout pitcher of all time.

In his greatest strikeout season, 1924, Vance struck out 7.65 batters per nine innings. That number was surpassed by 40 qualified pitchers in 2015, including one Rick Porcello. But in that year, the remainder of the National League struck out a mere 2.63 batters per nine, and actually walked more batters than they dismissed. That’s amazing enough, but what truly astounds is how often his name shows up. While many other pitchers had a year or two at peak velocity, Vance’s six-year run (1923-1928) all rank in the top 12 seasons among starters all-time. It was a different time, but Vance owned an era in a way that doesn’t get the credit that Cy Young and Christy Mathewson received.

The seventies belonged to Nolan Ryan.

This is not a surprise, although Ryan rather surprisingly never had an elite strikeout season in the 1995 Randy Johnson mold. You have to go through five Ryan years to get to the next guy, teammate Frank Tanana, who serves as a pretty good example of how hard it is to make the top of the list multiple times. It’s fun to see 1989 Nolan Ryan and 1973 Nolan Ryan right next to each other.

The fifties didn’t really belong to anyone.

Actually, they belonged to Herb Score, who owns two of the only three appearances of the decade in the K%+ top 100. But with his career cut tragically short, and Koufax spending much of the fifties still finding his bearings, there’s just no other strikeout pitchers that dominate the era.

Johnny Vander Meer wasn’t just a two-game wonder; he was a two-year wonder.

The long-time Reds starter is basically known for one fun fact: he’s the only pitcher to throw back-to-back no hitters (and perhaps always will be). But he was pretty formidable for a whole season in 1941, years after his historic feat. The top of the starter list is actually surprisingly light on non-Hall of Famers, given how quickly the fastball can go; he and Herb Score (whose career was derailed by injuries) are the only two outsiders in the top 20.

Kirk Rueter started 13 years in the major leagues somehow.

Rueter was one of those guys pressed into service as a youngster, one who never had anything to work with. (His highest adjusted strikeout rate was 81.) Perhaps only his perfect 8-0 record got him a second season, but he wound up with four playoff berths. But despite plying his trade in the heart of the steroid era, despite wielding an arsenal as threatening as a pitching machine, he never sank below 0.7 fWAR in a season. Until his last, when he pitched 107.1 innings and struck out 25 batters – five of them opposing pitchers.

RELIEF PITCHING SEASONAL K%+ SCORES, TOP 100 & BOTTOM 10 Rank Season Name Team Lg TBF SO K% Lg K% Lg K%+ 1 2003 Eric Gagne Dodgers NL 306 137 44.8% 17.1% 262 2 2014 Aroldis Chapman Reds NL 202 106 52.5% 20.5% 255 3 1999 Billy Wagner Astros NL 286 124 43.4% 17.0% 255 4 2012 Craig Kimbrel Braves NL 231 116 50.2% 20.1% 250 5 1992 Rob Dibble Reds NL 286 110 38.5% 15.4% 250 6 2004 Brad Lidge Astros NL 369 157 42.5% 17.3% 246 7 1975 Skip Lockwood Mets NL 192 61 31.8% 13.1% 243 8 1999 Armando Benitez Mets NL 312 128 41.0% 17.0% 241 9 1981 Ron Davis Yankees AL 285 83 29.1% 12.1% 240 10 1991 Rob Dibble Reds NL 334 124 37.1% 15.6% 238 11 1990 Rob Dibble Reds NL 384 136 35.4% 15.1% 235 12 1982 Bill Caudill Mariners AL 380 111 29.2% 12.6% 233 13 1993 Duane Ward Blue Jays AL 282 97 34.4% 14.8% 233 14 1960 Ryne Duren Yankees AL 229 67 29.3% 12.6% 232 15 1989 Lee Smith Red Sox AL 290 96 33.1% 14.3% 232 16 1959 Ryne Duren Yankees AL 322 96 29.8% 12.8% 232 17 2011 Kenley Jansen Dodgers NL 218 96 44.0% 19.1% 231 18 1975 John Hiller Tigers AL 295 87 29.5% 12.9% 229 19 1987 Tom Henke Blue Jays AL 363 128 35.3% 15.4% 229 20 1989 Rob Dibble Reds NL 401 141 35.2% 15.4% 229 21 1981 Rich Gossage Yankees AL 173 48 27.7% 12.1% 229 22 1989 Tom Henke Blue Jays AL 356 116 32.6% 14.3% 228 23 1982 Rich Gossage Yankees AL 356 102 28.7% 12.6% 228 24 1977 Bruce Sutter Cubs NL 411 129 31.4% 14.0% 224 25 1998 Billy Wagner Astros NL 247 97 39.3% 17.5% 224 26 2004 Francisco Rodriguez Angels AL 335 123 36.7% 16.4% 223 27 1989 Bryan Harvey Angels AL 245 78 31.8% 14.3% 223 28 1930 Whit Wyatt Tigers AL 363 68 18.7% 8.4% 222 29 1976 Skip Lockwood Mets NL 375 108 28.8% 13.0% 222 30 2007 Jonathan Papelbon Red Sox AL 224 84 37.5% 17.0% 221 31 1991 Bryan Harvey Angels AL 309 101 32.7% 14.8% 220 32 2013 Aroldis Chapman Reds NL 258 112 43.4% 19.7% 220 33 2012 Aroldis Chapman Reds NL 276 122 44.2% 20.1% 220 34 2006 Joe Nathan Twins AL 262 95 36.3% 16.5% 220 35 1958 Ryne Duren Yankees AL 307 87 28.3% 12.9% 220 36 1996 Troy Percival Angels AL 291 100 34.4% 15.7% 219 37 2011 Craig Kimbrel Braves NL 306 127 41.5% 19.1% 218 38 2010 Carlos Marmol Cubs NL 332 138 41.6% 19.1% 217 39 1978 Victor Cruz Blue Jays AL 199 51 25.6% 11.8% 217 40 2005 B.J. Ryan Orioles AL 290 100 34.5% 15.9% 217 41 2001 Dan Plesac Blue Jays AL 190 68 35.8% 16.5% 216 42 1980 Rich Gossage Yankees AL 401 103 25.7% 11.9% 216 43 1997 Billy Wagner Astros NL 277 106 38.3% 17.7% 216 44 2003 Rafael Soriano Mariners AL 201 68 33.8% 15.7% 216 45 1995 Troy Percival Angels AL 284 94 33.1% 15.4% 215 46 1976 Dave LaRoche Indians AL 389 104 26.7% 12.4% 215 47 1978 Mark Littell Cardinals NL 447 130 29.1% 13.5% 215 48 1992 Dennis Eckersley Athletics AL 309 93 30.1% 14.0% 214 49 2008 Grant Balfour Rays AL 224 82 36.6% 17.1% 214 50 2005 Joe Nathan Twins AL 276 94 34.1% 15.9% 214 51 1993 John Wetteland Expos NL 344 113 32.8% 15.4% 214 52 1927 Garland Braxton Senators AL 639 96 15.0% 7.1% 213 53 1999 Matt Mantei – – – MLB 284 99 34.9% 16.4% 212 54 1986 Tom Henke Blue Jays AL 370 118 31.9% 15.0% 212 55 1997 Armando Benitez Orioles AL 307 106 34.5% 16.4% 211 56 2000 Robb Nen Giants NL 256 92 35.9% 17.1% 210 57 2011 Sergio Romo Giants NL 175 70 40.0% 19.1% 210 58 1994 Bobby Ayala Mariners AL 236 76 32.2% 15.4% 209 59 2005 Brad Lidge Astros NL 291 103 35.4% 16.9% 209 60 2014 Andrew Miller – – – MLB 242 103 42.6% 20.4% 209 61 1990 Bryan Harvey Angels AL 267 82 30.7% 14.7% 209 62 2014 Brad Boxberger Rays AL 247 104 42.1% 20.2% 209 63 1980 Victor Cruz Indians AL 355 88 24.8% 11.9% 208 64 2006 J.J. Putz Mariners AL 303 104 34.3% 16.5% 208 65 1962 Dick Radatz Red Sox AL 506 144 28.5% 13.7% 208 66 1991 Duane Ward Blue Jays AL 428 132 30.8% 14.8% 208 67 2009 Jonathan Broxton Dodgers NL 300 114 38.0% 18.3% 208 68 2002 Eric Gagne Dodgers NL 314 114 36.3% 17.5% 208 69 1933 Dazzy Vance Cardinals NL 427 67 15.7% 7.6% 207 70 1970 Pete Richert Orioles AL 216 66 30.6% 14.8% 207 71 2015 Kenley Jansen Dodgers NL 181 77 42.5% 20.6% 207 72 1977 Rich Gossage Pirates NL 523 151 28.9% 14.0% 206 73 2006 Takashi Saito Dodgers NL 303 107 35.3% 17.1% 206 74 2004 B.J. Ryan Orioles AL 361 122 33.8% 16.4% 206 75 2005 Francisco Rodriguez Angels AL 279 91 32.6% 15.9% 205 76 1958 Herb Score Indians AL 182 48 26.4% 12.9% 205 77 2015 Aroldis Chapman Reds NL 262 110 42.0% 20.6% 204 78 1947 Joe Page Yankees AL 584 116 19.9% 9.7% 204 79 1979 Bruce Sutter Cubs NL 403 110 27.3% 13.4% 204 80 2000 Armando Benitez Mets NL 304 106 34.9% 17.1% 204 81 2003 Jose Valverde Diamondbacks NL 204 71 34.8% 17.1% 204 82 1975 Dave LaRoche Indians AL 359 94 26.2% 12.9% 204 83 2011 Al Alburquerque Tigers AL 182 67 36.8% 18.1% 203 84 1999 John Rocker Braves NL 301 104 34.6% 17.0% 203 85 1976 Wayne Twitchell Phillies NL 254 67 26.4% 13.0% 203 86 2004 Octavio Dotel – – – MLB 356 122 34.3% 16.9% 203 87 2011 David Robertson Yankees AL 272 100 36.8% 18.1% 203 88 2015 Andrew Miller Yankees AL 218 89 40.8% 20.1% 203 89 2000 Byung-Hyun Kim Diamondbacks NL 320 111 34.7% 17.1% 203 90 2010 Billy Wagner Braves NL 268 104 38.8% 19.1% 203 91 2004 Eric Gagne Dodgers NL 326 114 35.0% 17.3% 202 92 1926 Walter Beall Yankees AL 384 56 14.6% 7.2% 202 93 2013 Greg Holland Royals AL 255 103 40.4% 20.0% 202 94 1985 Tom Henke Blue Jays AL 153 42 27.5% 13.6% 202 95 1995 Roberto Hernandez White Sox AL 272 84 30.9% 15.4% 201 96 2006 Francisco Rodriguez Angels AL 296 98 33.1% 16.5% 201 97 1977 Len Barker Rangers AL 196 51 26.0% 13.0% 201 98 1979 Jim Kern Rangers AL 578 136 23.5% 11.7% 201 99 2005 Rudy Seanez Padres NL 248 84 33.9% 16.9% 200 100 1963 Dick Radatz Red Sox AL 541 162 29.9% 15.0% 200 9,173 1921 Jim Shaw Senators AL 193 4 2.1% 7.4% 28 9,174 1945 Tom Earley Braves NL 178 4 2.2% 8.1% 28 9,175 1981 Jim Kaat Cardinals NL 229 8 3.5% 12.9% 27 9,176 1928 Ray Moss Robins NL 268 5 1.9% 7.1% 26 9,177 1927 Charlie Barnabe White Sox AL 284 5 1.8% 7.1% 25 9,178 1945 Arnold Carter Reds NL 209 4 1.9% 8.1% 24 9,179 1933 Jack Berly Phillies NL 231 4 1.7% 7.6% 23 9,180 1929 Red Peery Braves NL 187 3 1.6% 7.2% 22 9,181 1954 George O’Donnell Pirates NL 373 8 2.1% 10.6% 20 9,182 1927 Ted Wingfield Red Sox AL 346 1 0.3% 7.1% 4

Relievers who strike out a lot of batters aren’t the stereotypical wild men.

The iconic fireballing reliever, perhaps embedded into our consciousness by Ricky Vaughn and Mitch Williams, doesn’t hold true. While few of the names near the top of the list could be called control artists, neither do we find many Marmols. In fact, perhaps surprisingly given the nature and volatility of relievers, what we find are many famous players, members of the Hall of Fame or at least Hall of Very Great, with decent if not amazing walk rates. A fun comparison is Bryan Harvey, whose 1989 and 1991 seasons show up near each other – the former combined with a 6.7 BB/9, the latter with a 1.9 BB/9.

The great strikeout relievers of our time are great in any time.

Despite the inflated strikeout numbers of the modern era, the greatness of Aroldis Chapman, Craig Kimbrel and Kenley Jansen hold up pretty well. The dominant relievers of our era really are dominant. But Eric Gagne’s one majestic season still edges them, as easy as it is to forget now.

Rob Dibble could have been a Hall of Famer.

In the modern era (1988 forward), Dibble ended his career at age 31 with 12.9 fWAR, good for 20th among relievers and tied with Craig Kimbrel in almost the same amount of career innings. Throw out his two failed comebacks, which cost his value a win apiece, and he leaps up into a tie for 12th, among pitchers who threw at least twice as many career innings. His four great seasons all rank in the top 20. Whether or not his fastball flew too close to the sun, it’s a warning for fans of the modern closers: relievers just don’t age like they used to.

Ryne Duren’s legacy deserves another look.

One of the tendencies we have in baseball and human nature is that we focus on the most glaring characteristic in a person. Rarely was this more on display than with Duren, whose near-blindness and shaded coke-bottle glasses only fed into the fame of his terrible wildness. Perhaps the fear of an uncontrollable, half-blind (and two-thirds drunk) reliever throwing high-90s fastball did the job of intimidating and disconcerting batters, but it also led to the pitcher’s own caricaturization. Forever battling against expectations, potential and sobriety, Duren was shipped out at the first sign of weakness, and ultimately the man cleaned himself up and became a prolific speaker for alcoholics in his post-playing days. But despite near-anonymity now, this stat shows that at his peak, he was quite effective despite the walks, and deserving of at least as much lasting notoriety as Mitch Williams.

Ted Wingfield’s 1927 season is impossible to conceive.

If not for this statistic, Wingfield would be utterly forgotten, a swingman for a few years in the Roaring Twenties with a poor ERA on last-place teams. But his final encore at the age of 27 is the stuff of numeric legends: he faced 346 batters and struck out exactly one of them. It took him four months to get it, in fact, picking it up in long relief on August 10, striking out Max Bishop. His eight consecutive starts without a strikeout is a record that might stand the test of time, and only retirement kept it from going higher.

The best – and the worst – strikeout seasons in history failed to make the cut.

To qualify for the starter list a pitcher had to go 100 innings, and to qualify for the reliever list, a pitcher had to be predominantly a reliever. This cut off outliers on both ends of the spectrum. On the low end, we lose Aaron Cook’s final season, which was Kirk Rueter version 1.1. (The two started the same number of games, but Cook missed the innings cut because he wasn’t as good.) On the high end, we lose Bob Feller’s rookie season, where he struck out 70 batters in 54 innings as a starter, all before becoming a legal adult. Only three pitchers in the league that year managed even half his 11.03 K/9.

Career K%+ Scores

Included below are a list of career K%+ scores for the top 100 and bottom 10 pitchers in baseball history who have faced at least 1,000 batters in their career. Please note that career totals are not meant to be compared against each other the way that season totals can be. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, since K% declines with age, pitchers who were too ineffective to last into their thirties, or who have been prevented from reaching them by the present tense, will have inflated numbers. And since we’re working with a list of numbers with different denominators, eras with high league-average strikeout rates will see generally flatter bell curves than strikeout-depressed eras. That’s why so many of the scores in the 130s and 70s belong to the deadball era.

CAREER K%+, TOP 100 & BOTTOM 10 Rank Name TBF K/9 Career K%+ 1 Dazzy Vance 12,220 6.2 216 2 Rob Dibble 1,836 12.2 215 3 Aroldis Chapman 1,205 15.4 213 4 Craig Kimbrel 1,262 14.6 202 5 Kenley Jansen 1,211 14.0 199 6 Bryan Harvey 1,388 10.4 193 7 Billy Wagner 3,407 11.9 188 8 Herb Score 3,400 8.8 182 9 Tom Henke 2,765 9.8 182 10 Nolan Ryan 22,557 9.6 179 11 Ryne Duren 2,436 9.6 177 12 Armando Benitez 2,831 10.9 172 13 Brad Lidge 2,404 11.9 172 14 Mark Clear 3,446 9.0 171 15 Sandy Koufax 9,497 9.3 170 16 Randy Johnson 16,958 10.6 169 17 David Robertson 1,741 12.0 169 18 Greg Holland 1,210 12.1 168 19 Duane Ward 2,613 9.2 168 20 Dick Radatz 2,779 9.7 168 21 Takashi Saito 1,195 10.7 167 22 B.J. Ryan 2,071 10.5 166 23 Scott Williamson 1,436 10.5 164 24 Mark Littell 1,837 7.9 164 25 Ugueth Urbina 2,755 10.5 163 26 Octavio Dotel 3,734 10.8 161 27 Troy Percival 2,756 9.9 161 28 J.R. Richard 6,542 8.4 160 29 John Wetteland 3,109 9.5 159 30 Pedro Martinez 11,543 10.0 158 31 Van Mungo 8,640 5.3 158 32 Tommy Bridges 11,864 5.3 158 33 Bill Caudill 2,649 8.4 157 34 Lefty Grove 16,633 5.2 157 35 Walter Johnson 12,830 4.7 157 36 Damaso Marte 1,779 9.5 157 37 Mark Prior 2,771 10.4 157 38 Lefty Gomez 10,572 5.3 157 39 Jim Kern 2,927 7.4 156 40 Ernesto Frieri 1,021 11.6 156 41 Dizzy Dean 8,117 5.3 156 42 Joe Page 3,396 5.9 155 43 Rod Scurry 1,543 8.4 155 44 Pat Malone 8,276 4.8 153 45 Kerry Wood 5,634 10.3 153 46 Lee Smith 5,031 8.7 153 47 Tom Hall 3,234 8.4 153 48 Francisco Rodriguez 3,830 10.8 152 49 Carlos Marmol 2,455 11.6 151 50 Claude Jonnard 1,206 4.1 151 51 Yu Darvish 2,262 11.2 151 52 Sam McDowell 10,411 8.9 150 53 Jack Meyer 1,667 7.4 150 54 Koji Uehara 1,370 10.6 149 55 Antonio Bastardo 1,117 11.0 149 56 Jeff Nelson 2,979 9.5 149 57 Robb Nen 2,983 10.0 149 58 Jonathan Papelbon 2,622 10.1 148 59 Al Reyes 1,038 8.9 148 60 Michael Gonzalez 1,395 10.4 148 61 Rafael Betancourt 2,335 9.5 148 62 Roger Clemens 20,240 8.6 148 63 Paul Shuey 2,093 9.4 147 64 Jose Fernandez 1,098 10.5 147 65 Johnny Vander Meer 9,017 5.5 146 66 Jakie May 6,616 4.4 145 67 Ewell Blackwell 5,454 5.7 145 68 Sid Fernandez 7,614 8.4 145 69 J.J. Putz 1,974 9.5 145 70 Bob Feller 16,180 6.1 145 71 Ferdie Schupp 3,934 4.8 144 72 Michael Wuertz 1,299 9.6 144 73 Randy Myers 3,684 9.0 144 74 Brendan Donnelly 1,227 8.6 144 75 Jonathan Broxton 2,220 10.3 144 76 Bob Shawkey 9,850 4.2 143 77 Sergio Romo 1,319 10.2 143 78 Tippy Martinez 3,219 6.8 143 79 Trevor Hoffman 4,352 9.4 143 80 Antonio Osuna 1,866 9.2 143 81 Kiko Calero 1,062 9.6 142 82 Jesse Orosco 4,391 8.2 142 83 Hal Newhouser 12,512 5.4 142 84 Johnny Allen 8,292 4.9 142 85 Frank Francisco 1,587 9.9 142 86 Chris Sale 3,408 10.3 142 87 Stephen Strasburg 2,998 10.4 141 88 Arthur Rhodes 4,367 8.7 141 89 Hank Johnson 4,398 4.8 141 90 Joakim Soria 1,709 9.6 141 91 Marshall Bridges 1,132 7.9 140 92 Tyler Clippard 2,093 9.8 140 93 John Hiller 5,033 7.5 140 94 Satchel Paige 1,995 5.5 140 95 Paul Assenmacher 3,205 8.5 140 96 Rich Gossage 7,344 7.5 140 97 Jose Valverde 2,336 9.9 140 98 Dan Plesac 4,245 8.7 140 99 George Pipgras 6,306 4.3 140 100 Guy Morton 5,249 4.4 139 2,630 Sam Zoldak 3,765 2.0 49 2,631 Dave Eiland 1,163 3.7 49 2,632 Randy Martz 1,093 2.4 49 2,633 Jeff Ballard 3,245 2.8 48 2,634 Bob Kline 1,968 1.8 48 2,635 Bill Beckmann 1,796 2.2 48 2,636 Ernie Wingard 3,113 1.3 45 2,637 Benny Frey 4,942 1.4 42 2,638 Nate Cornejo 1,289 3.0 41 2,639 Ted Wingfield 2,282 1.1 18

The data is yours to look at and manipulate: if you want to start in more modern times, you can cut down the date ranges, or perhaps change the game started cutoff for starters versus relievers. This isn’t a predictive stat, so you can have fun with the data and decide how you want it to mean to you.

The K%+ statistic doesn’t really tell us anything new. That doesn’t mean it’s not useful; calculators don’t tell us anything new, but they make the math easier. Think of this statistic as shorthand, a means of reminding us that each pitcher existed in his own time and conditions. And that Dazzy Vance was really, really amazing.

References & Resources