With his 100th strikeout on Sunday, Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw broke the record for fewest walks (5) by a pitcher reaching the century mark. Kershaw finished the outing with 105 strikeouts versus just five walks, producing an impossibly high 22:1 K/BB ratio.
The K/BB record holder at the 100-strikeout pole had been Cliff Lee, who reached 100 against seven walks in 2010, needing until July 22 to get there. While Kershaw is on pace to shatter the season K:BB record, just one wobbly afternoon can torpedo the ratio. Of course, the Dodgers' three-time NL Cy Young Award winner doesn't have many bad outings.
Incidentally, the Dodgers are now visiting the Chicago Cubs, where one of the NL's other most dominant starters is looking to break a record. If the Cubs and Jake Arrieta beat the Dodgers on Tuesday, Chicago will have won 24 consecutive games started by the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner. Twenty-four! Run support helps but Arrieta hasn't required much at all during this streak.
So with the Dodgers and Cubs locked up and Kershaw and Arrieta both spinning sub-2.00 ERA seasons, we decided to look at some of the most mind-boggling starting pitcher stats from the last 50 years -- or since 1967. The year 1967 gives us a cool half-century to examine and splits the difference between (1) the MLB's expansion to a 162-game season in 1962 and (2) the AL's adoption of the designated hitter in 1973.
You may notice this Kershaw fellow appears below, as he's got a couple season streaks in progress.
Note: season figures listed below require a minimum of 162 innings pitched, which is the requisite number for eligibility for the individual pitching championship (lowest ERA). Numbers are courtesy STATS LLC. And unless otherwise indicated, statistics date back to the 1967 MLB season.
1. Best K:BB ratio in a single season
2014 Phil Hughes, MIN 11.63
1994 Bret Saberhagen, NYM 11.00
2010 Cliff Lee, SEA/TEX 10.28
2002 Curt Schilling, ARI 10.58
2000 Pedro Martinez, BOS 8.88
2. Most consecutive innings pitched (IP) without allowing a run
1988 Orel Hershiser, LAD 59.0
1968 Don Drysdale, LAD 58.0
1968 Bob Gibson, STL 47.0
2015 Zack Greinke, LAD 45.2
2007 Brandon Webb, ARI 42.0
3. Most consecutive strikeouts without allowing a walk (data here goes back to 1974)
2002 Curt Schilling, ARI 56
2001 Greg Maddux, ATL 53
2000 Pedro Martinez, BOS 49
2015 Clayton Kershaw, LAD 46
2015 Chris Archer, TB 43
4. Most consecutive IP without allowing a walk (data here goes back to 1974)
2001 Greg Maddux, ATL 72.1
1976 Randy Jones, SD 68.0
2007 Greg Maddux, SD 59.2
2002-03 David Wells, NYY 59.0
1993 Bob Tewksbury, STL 55.0
5. Most consecutive IP without allowing a home run (data here goes back to 1974)
1988-89 Orel Hershiser, LAD 152.2
1985-86 Zane Smith, ATL 150.2
1990-91 Roger Clemens, BOS 149.2
1976-77 Steve Rogers, MON 147.0
1976 Vida Blue, OAK 137.0
6. Consecutive starts with 10-plus strikeouts
1999-00 Pedro Martinez, BOS 10
2015 Chris Sale, CWS 8
1977 Nolan Ryan, CAL 7
1999 Pedro Martinez, BOS 7
2001 Randy Johnson, ARI 7
(Note: Kershaw had six straight until May 23 when a "lowly" 2-hit, 7-strikeout shutout of the Reds cut up the streak.)
7. Most consecutive starts with 0 runs allowed
1968 Don Drysdale, LAD 6
1988 Orel Hershiser, LAD 6
2015 Zack Greinke, LAD 6
1968 Bob Gibson, STL 5
2007 Brandon Webb, ARI 5
2008-09 Zack Greinke, KC 5
2012 Ryan Dempster, CHC 5
8. Consecutive starts with 2 ER or fewer allowed
2013-14 Zack Greinke, LAD 22
1990-91 Roger Clemens, BOS 21
2014 Felix Hernandez, SEA 17
1993-94 Greg Maddux, ATL 16
10. Lowest batting average allowed in a single season
2000 Pedro Martinez, BOS .167
1968 Luis Tiant, CLE .168
1972 Nolan Ryan, CAL .171
1991 Nolan Ryan, TEX .172
1985 Sid Fernandez, NYM .181
11. Lowest single-season WHIP
2000 Pedro Martinez, BOS 0.74
1995 Greg Maddux, ATL 0.81
1968 Dave McNally, BAL 0.84
2015 Zack Greinke, LAD 0.84
1968 Bob Gibson, STL 0.85
12. Most consecutive seasons of 200+ strikeouts
1968-76 Tom Seaver, NYM 9
1986-92 Roger Clemens, BOS 7
2010-15 Clayton Kershaw, LAD 6* (active)
2009-14 Felix Hernandez, SEA 6
1997-2002 Randy Johnson (3 teams) 6
1971-76 Bert Blyleven, Min/Tex 6
1969-74 Mickey Lolich, DET 6
13. Fewest walks allowed in a season
2005 Carlos Silva, MIN 9 (188.1 IP)
1994 Bret Saberhagen, NYM 13 (177.1 IP)
2014 Phil Hughes, MIN 16 (209.2 IP)
2010 Cliff Lee, Sea/Tex 16 (212.1 IP)
2004 Jon Lieber, NYY 18 (176.2 IP)
14. Most ground-into-double-plays (GIDP) induced in a single season
1979 Tommy John, NYY 45
1970 Tom Murphy, CAL 43
1999 Scott Erickson, BAL 41
1970 Tommy John, CWS 41
1971 Dick Drago, KC 40
2000 Shawn Estes, SF 40
(Of course it's ideal to keep men off the base paths but there's no better way than the GIDP to send them back to the dugout.)
15. Shutouts in a single season
1968 Bob Gibson, STL 13
1975 Jim Palmer, BAL 10
1985 John Tudor, STL 10
- 6 tied with 9
16. Most consecutive seasons with an 2.50 ERA or lower
1992-95 Greg Maddux, CHC/ATL 4
2013-15 Clayton Kershaw, LAD 3* (active)
- 18 tied with 2
17. Most innings pitched in a season without hitting a batter
1975 Randy Jones, SD 285.0
1973 Mike Cuellar, BAL 267.0
1986 Jack Morris, DET 267.0
1977 J.R. Richard, HOU 267.0
1982 Jack Morris, DET 266.1
18. Most wild pitches thrown in a single season
1993 Juan Guzman, TOR 26
2011 A.J. Burnett, NYY 25
1987 Jack Morris, DET 24
2000 Matt Clement, SD 23
1990 Tim Leary, NYY 23
(We didn't say that all the records were desirable.)
19. Highest strikeouts per 9 innings in a single season
2001 Randy Johnson, ARI 13.41
1999 Pedro Martinez, BOS 13.20
1998 Kerry Wood, CHC 12.58
2000 Randy Johnson, ARI 12.56
1995 Randy Johnson, SEA 12.35
20. Fewest HR allowed in single season
1976 Reggie Cleveland, BOS 3
1994 Greg Maddux, ATL 4
- 8 tied with 5
21. Highest percentage of team's strikeouts
1973 Nolan Ryan, CAL 37.9 (383/1010)
1974 Nolan Ryan, CAL 37.2 (367/986)
1979 J.R. Richard, HOU 36.7 (313/854)
1977 Nolan Ryan, CAL 35.3 (341/965)
1972 Steve Carlton, PHI 33.4 (310/927)
22. Fewest hits allowed in a single season
1991 Nolan Ryan, TEX 102
1985 Sid Fernandez, NYM 108
2013 Jose Fernandez, MIA 111
1998 Kerry Wood, CHC 117
2007 Chris Young, SD 118
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