Is the Great Strikeout Race All Over???

 

With one-third of the season now gone, it is my sad duty to report that the Great Race between two, or three, or even four of your New York Yankees to break the single-season strikeout record...is looking more and more like a dud.

Not, mind you, that many of our boys aren't striking out in bushels (bushels for bushers)?

It's more that, as feared, injuries and Covid have limited their chances to whiff.

With two thirds of a season to go, the Big Three stand—or swish—like this:

Joey, Joey, King of the Streets—60

Judge—58

Stanton—50

For a short time, it even looked as though Crusty Donaldson might be able to sneak into the race.  But thanks to Covid and The Name That Cannot Say Its Name suspension, Crusty has a mere 40 K's on the year.

As you can see—or, as your trusty slide rule can help you see—even Joey Gallo is on a pace to strikeout a mere 180 times on the season. A far cry from Mark Reynolds' record 223, set back in 2009.

To be sure, it's not that our guys are falling down on striking out (though they are striking out and then falling down).

Joey G., for instance, is averaging 1.3 strikeouts a game—a rate that would bring him to 216 for a whole season, or within striking distance of Reynolds' mark.  

Judge would finish at 181, Stanton at 193, and Donaldson at 162. But that's not enough.

Intriguing thought: the only way that Gallo would have a chance to challenge the record, would be if he were to really heat up, and stay in the lineup. Same with Stanton. But for now, it looks as though Reynolds is safe for another year.

Unless Hicks heats up.