It was a critical component of baseball’s evolution in popularity. Chadwick developed the shorthand symbols used in scorekeeping, including K for strikeout. Chadwick used the letter K because it was the last letter in the word “struck.” The letter S was already used to denote when a base hit was a single.
A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denoted by K in scorekeeping and statistics. A “strikeout looking” — in which the batter does not swing and the third strike is called by the umpire — is usually denoted by a ꓘ.
Batting average (BA) is calculated by taking a player’s total hits and dividing them by the number of at bats. For example, a . 300 average would indicate that a player collected a hit three out of every 10 at bats.
If the next batter hits a ball to the center fielder who catches it on the fly for the second out, it would be noted as F8, with F for flyout and 8 for the center fielder. (In some systems, the letter ‘F’ is reserved for foul outs. A fly out would therefore be scored simply as ‘8’.)
Why Is BB Also Called a Walk. A BB (as per baseball BB meaning) is also called a walk because, in actuality (as per details defined in the baseball rules), a batter/hitter cannot legally walk towards a base. His only privilege to walk into a base is when he can avoid four straight balls pitched outside the strike zone.
Completely unofficial and no record books have ever been kept. The following pitchers had no problem with their pitch count, at least for one inning, as they started the inning, threw exactly three pitches and recorded three outs.
In one sense, using K% and BB% is extremely easy.Context:
Rating | K% | BB% |
---|---|---|
Excellent | 10.0% | 15.0% |
Great | 12.5% | 12.5% |
Above Average | 16.0% | 10.0% |
Average | 20.0% | 8.0% |
A very good K:BB is 4.00 or higher, something that just 14 of 96 pitchers with a minimum of 150 IP met in 2013, including both Cy Young winners. Generally a ratio around 2.75 is what I consider good while anything under 2.00 would be a sign of concern.
For the purpose of this exercise, I consider a K/BB over 2.00 to be ‘good’. In actuality, it is league average, but I consider a 2.00 K/BB the cutoff for draftable pitchers except in the deepest of fantasy leagues, so that’s what I used.
During the 1980s, New York Mets fans started the tradition of placing signs with the letter K, and also a backwards K to help keep track of Dwight Gooden’s strikeouts during a game. Today during many games that feature a power pitcher, fans still post the strikeout signs.
crooked number
A number other than a zero or a one, referring to the appearance of the actual number. A team which is able to score two or more runs in an inning is said to “hang a crooked number” on the scoreboard or on the pitcher.
Batting average might be the easiest to understand stat that is still very important in today’s game. This is the percentage of time a hitter averages a base hit.
If the hitter grounds out to shortstop, for example, write in “6-3,” which shows the shortstop threw him out at first base. If the hitter flies out to left field, write a “7.”
Definition. A single occurs when a batter hits the ball and reaches first base without the help of an intervening error or attempt to put out another baserunner. Singles are the most common type of hit in baseball, and they occur in many varieties. If a batter beats out a bunt or an infield dribbler – it’s a single.
A hold is an unofficial statistic that measures the effectiveness of middle relievers. A hold is granted to a relief pitcher who enters a game with his team in the lead in a save situation, and hands over that lead to another reliever without the score having been tied in the interim.
PS: Pitches seen. PS/PA: Pitches seen per plate appearance. 6+: Plate appearances with 6+ pitches.
For starting pitchers the top and bottom 20th percentile are a K/9 above 7.56 and below 4.89. Relievers top and bottom 20th percentiles are a K/9 above 8.94 and below 5.54. Variations: Some people prefer to use strikeouts per batter faced (K% or K/G) to express a player’s ability to strike batters out.
In baseball statistics, strikeouts per nine innings pitched (K/9, SO/9, or SO/9IP) is the mean of strikeouts (or Ks) by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by multiplying the number of strikeouts by nine, and dividing by the number of innings pitched.
Related: What does H/9 mean in MLB The Show 22? K/9 stands for strikeouts per nine innings. Essentially, if this attribute is high, that pitcher has great success in making the batter swing and miss on their pitches, especially in counts with two strikes.
The “Olympic Rings” or platinum sombrero applies to a player striking out five times in a game. A horn refers to a player striking out six times in a game; the term was coined by pitcher Mike Flanagan after teammate Sam Horn of the Baltimore Orioles accomplished the feat in an extra-inning game in 1991.
A five-strikeout inning has never happened in the majors. Multiple pitchers have struck out four in one inning, including earlier this season when Los Angeles Angels pitcher Luke Bard did it in the 14th inning against the New York Yankees.