X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Compare Any Players
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

Early Pitching Outliers: Swinging-Strike Rate vs. Strikeout Rate

adam wainwright fantasy baseball rankings draft sleepers starting pitchers

Jon analyzes the relationship between swinging-strike and strikeout rates to determine which starting pitchers could be fantasy baseball risers or fallers.

It is very early in the season, as the league leaders have made just four starts. Because of this, we have a lot of strangeness in the data that has been generated, especially with pitching, which is an inherently random exercise.

One thing that can be a bit random over a small sample size is the strikeout rate. This does turn out to be one of the quicker statistics to stabilize, but early on, a few extra strikeouts here and there make a substantial difference on your strikeout rate, giving umpire calls and other outside influences a bigger grip on the final rates.

One statistic that tells us a lot about what to expect for a strikeout rate would be the swinging-strike rate. You have heard a bunch about this statistic, to be sure, but to review: Swinging-strike rate (SwStr%) is the percent of a pitcher's pitches that generate a swing-and-miss. Most of baseball's strikeouts come from swings and misses, here is the breakdown of that so far in 2022:

Be sure to check all of our fantasy baseball lineup tools and resources:

 

Early Strikeout Data

 

Since most strikeouts are of the swinging variety, we know that the swinging-strike rate should be highly correlated with the strikeout. This turns out to be true, and it gives us the opportunity to look at pitchers whose SwStr% and K% metrics don't really match up.

 

The Relationship, Plotted

Here is every qualified pitcher and their SwStr% and K% plotted. I've added a trend line to show you that relationship, as your SwStr% goes up, so does your K%.

You can hover over or click on each dot to see who it represents. The pitchers that are very close to the line are basically "nothing to see here" guys, meaning there's nothing outlierish about their SwStr% and K% combination. The dots that are far away from the line is a different story and we should probably expect them to come back towards the line, meaning their strikeout rate is likely to come up or down as we move forward.

 

Positive Outliers - More Strikeouts To Come

Kevin Gausman, Toronto Blue Jays

SwStr% 22.7%
SwStr% Rank 1st
K% 30.1%
K% Rank 16th

data does not reflect Tuesday's games

This is more about just how absurd the swinging-strike rate has been so far. For comparison's sake, Corbin Burnes led the league in SwStr% last year with a mark of 16.6%. You can see Gausman's 22.7% is well above that, and certainly not to be sustained.

What we can say is that he probably should have earned a few more strikeouts in those first starts, and if he keeps this SwStr% above 15%, I would expect a few extra points on the K% eventually. There's nothing really actionable with Gausman, he's an ace and you may have gotten a nice deal on him on draft day - hold on tight.

Kyle Gibson, Philadelphia Phillies

SwStr% 17.1%
SwStr% Rank 8th
K% 25.6%
K% Rank 36th

It's been a pretty encouraging start to the year for Gibson. He has generated 17, 17, 10, and 17 swinging-strikes in his four starts (ordered chronologically), which is something we're not used to seeing from him. Last season, the SwStr% on Gibson was just 10.3% and that came with a predictably low 20.6% K%. Those numbers make sense. Now, his SwStr% is up to 17.1% through four starts, and the K% has followed, but probably not quite enough.

The thing with Gibson is that it's foolish to believe he can really be a guy with an SwStr% above 12% or so. However, it's not crazy to think he could hold on to some improvement from last year here, which would make him a much more interesting fantasy pitcher. He does everything else pretty well (52% GB%, 8% BB% last season), so a few added strikeouts could really turn him into someone you want to start on your fantasy teams.

The thing benefitting Gibson right now may be the schedule he's faced. He's taken on the Athletics, Marlins, and Rockies twice - three offenses that are not good. I'd probably expect Gibson to end up back around 10% SwStr% and 21% K%, but he's worth monitoring for now.

Alek Manoah, Toronto Blue Jays

SwStr% 16.4%
SwStr% Rank 12th
K% 25.0%
K% Rank 39th

Manoah was awesome in his rookie year at generating swinging-strikes (12.8%), and that's continued this year. What hasn't followed is the strikeout rate, which sits right around the league average at 25%. The command has been a bit of an issue, as he's walked six batters through three starts, so that might explain a bit of this. Since he didn't have an overly high walk rate last year (8.7%), I'm not going to fret too much over that. Manoah's stuff is legit, and he should continue to get better and better as he gets more experience. He's someone to be excited about.

Tony Gonsolin, Los Angeles Dodgers

SwStr% 15.1%
SwStr% Rank 24th
K% 15.1%
K% Rank 125th

Gonsolin recently generated 13 whiffs against the Braves but was rewarded with just three strikeouts for his efforts. That start has a big disparity here. I absolutely expect Gonsolin to bring that K% well above 15%. He finished at 20% last year, so that's not a high number - but it's certainly much better than 15%. The one thing Gonsolin has going for him this year that he hasn't in the past is a bit of job security. The Dodgers do not have a deep rotation right now with Andrew Heaney on the shelf, which is uncharted territory in recent years. Tony G should stick in the rotation, and I expect more strikeouts to come - but don't get your hopes up too high, the ceiling is pretty low.

Other positive outliers: Gerrit Cole, Garrett Whitlock, Joe Ryan, Keegan Akin, Frankie Montas

 

Negative Outliers - Fewer Strikeouts To Come

Nestor Cortes, New York Yankees

SwStr% 13.5%
SwStr% Rank 39th
K% 44.6%
K% Rank 1st

It was almost a sure thing that the league leader in K% after three weeks of games was going to be overperforming. Nobody in their right mind expects Cortes (or any pitcher for that matter) to sustain a strikeout rate above 40%. But just to make the point, his swinging-strike rate isn't even really in the "elite" realm despite the crazy high strikeout totals.

The start where he did most of his damage came with 12 strikeouts but just 15 whiffs. That's a really surprising ratio to see. The league-wide ratio of swinging-strikes to strikeouts is 2.11, meaning we see one strikeout for every 2.11 whiffs. Cortes' ratio right now is 1.36. We know the strikeout rate is coming down, I'm not saying anything interesting by typing that. I imagine this guy's strikeout rate settles down around 26-28% when all is said and done. To me, that makes him a guy I'd be shopping around to see if I can get somebody to bite on the elite start to the year.

Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals

SwStr% 5.9%
SwStr% Rank 141st
K% 24.2%
K% Rank 46th

The ageless wonder has 22 strikeouts this year, and 10 of those have been looking. That's 45% of his strikeouts, much higher than the league's 24% rate.

We would expect to see Wainwright on this list, as a guy who makes his living with pinpoint location and called strikes, but this ratio is just ridiculous. If you scroll back up to look at the scatter plot, his dot is by far the biggest outlier on the map.

Right now, there are 42 qualified pitchers with swinging-strike rates under 10%. Of those pitchers, only eight of them have strikeout rates above 20%, and Wainwright leads the back with a mark of 24.2%. The average strikeout rate of this group is 16%. Last season, Wainwright went for an 8% SwStr% and a 21% K%. I would say that's about where we should expect him to be this year as well, but I wouldn't be surprised if he falls short of both of those numbers given how old he is getting.

Eric Lauer, Milwaukee Brewers

SwStr% 13.1%
SwStr% Rank 48th
K% 34.3%
K% Rank 11th

His numbers here are buoyed by a huge performance last Sunday where he struck out 13 Phillies. That outing was completely uncharacteristic for him. Last season, his K% finished at 24% and he has only struck out 10 batters in his other two starts this year.

His 13.1% SwStr% is strong, but it's far from the elite tier here while his strikeout rate sits just outside of the top-10. I'm not buying Lauer as anything more than a 27% guy this year, and I'd be shopping him after that big outing on Sunday.

Alex Wood, San Francisco Giants

SwStr% 10.8%
SwStr% Rank 91st
K% 26.7%
K% Rank 30th

Wood is just a solid pitcher, and he's fitting in great with the Giants. His strikeout rate is right on par with what he did in 2021, but his SwStr% is actually down two points. I think we can count on a 24%+ K% from Wood, which is more than good enough given the quality of contact he allows and the nice walk rate, but if he doesn't start generating some more whiffs, we could see this K% tick downwards soon. I would be holding or acquiring Wood if the price is right though, nothing really to worry about here.

Taylor Hearn, Texas Rangers

SwStr% 9.3%
SwStr% Rank 115th
K% 24.1%
K% Rank 47th

Hearn isn't rostered in many leagues, but he has looked improved early on with a nice 24% K%, way up from his 21% mark last year. The trouble is the whiffs just aren't there, as he sits right there with Wainwright in terms of a high K% with a low SwStr%. I'm not buying what Hearn is selling.



Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App

Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy baseball app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, sleepers, prospects & more. All free!



More Fantasy Baseball Advice




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Compare Any Players
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Jameson Williams

Lions Didn't Entertain Trade Offers For Jameson Williams
Dalton Rushing

Homers In Four-Hit Game
Qadir Ismail

Raiders Sign Qadir Ismail
New York Giants

Giants Plan To Exercise Kayvon Thibodeaux's Fifth-Year Option
Russell Wilson

Will Be Giants Starting Quarterback
Max Muncy

With A Pair Of Doubles Back At Triple-A
Michael Lorenzen

Tosses Quality Start
Kansas City Chiefs

Chiefs Close Out The First Round With Josh Simmons
Philadelphia Eagles

Eagles Trade Up One Spot In First Round To Select Jihaad Campbell
A.J. Puk

Likely To Miss Multiple Months
Marquis Grissom Jr.

Notches Fifth Save At Double-A
Buffalo Bills

Bills Address Secondary And Take Maxwell Hairston With 30th Overall Pick
Félix Bautista

Felix Bautista Records Third Save
NFL

Eagles, Chiefs Swap First-Round Picks
Washington Commanders

Josh Conerly Jr. Goes At No. 29 Overall To Commanders

Giants Trade Up For Jaxson Dart At No. 25
Detroit Lions

Tyleik Williams Taken By Lions At No. 28 Overall
Shane Smith

Tosses Five Shutout Frames
Roman Anthony

With Home Run No. 5 On Thursday
Baltimore Ravens

Ravens Go With Malaki Starks At No. 27 Overall In NFL Draft
Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Takes Donovan Jackson No. 24 Overall
NFL

Rams Trade The 26th Pick In The 2025 NFL Draft To The Falcons
Andrés Muñoz

Andres Munoz Secures Ninth Save
Atlanta Falcons

Falcons Trade Back Into First Round To Draft James Pearce Jr. At No. 26 Overall

Matthew Golden Selected No. 23 Overall By Green Bay
NFL

Texans Trade The 25th Pick In The 2025 NFL Draft To The Giants
Jakob Marsee

Up To 18 Steals At Triple-A

Omarion Hampton Taken No. 22 Overall By Chargers
Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Selects Derrick Harmon At No. 21 Overall
Denver Broncos

Broncos Build Secondary By Selecting Jahdae Barron At No. 20

Buccaneers Add Emeka Egbuka At No. 19
Jeff McNeil

Activated From Injured List
Brett Baty

Optioned To Minors
Zack Gelof

To Begin Rehab Assignment Next Week
Ryan Walker

Remains Giants Closer
Kumar Rocker

Heads To Injured List
Brent Rooker

Resting For First Time This Season
Jrue Holiday

Tagged As Questionable For Friday
Jayson Tatum

Likely Out Again On Friday
Isaiah Stewart

Remains Out For Game 3
Anthony Cirelli

Good To Go Thursday
Andrei Vasilevskiy

Looks To Bounce Back In Game 2
Rasmus Ristolainen

To Miss Training Camp
Jonas Siegenthaler

Returns To Practice
Aliaksei Protas

Traveling With Capitals
Gabriel Vilardi

Still Out On Thursday
Max Pacioretty

Set To Join Maple Leafs Lineup For Game 3
Bryan Woo

Picks Up Third Win, Strikes Out Eight On Thursday
Cade Cavalli

Moving Rehab Assignment To Double-A
Paul DeJong

Having Surgery On His Nose
Royce Lewis

Starting His Rehab Assignment On Friday
Tyler O'Neill

Out On Thursday With Sore Neck
Linus Ullmark

Attempts To Overcome Playoff Struggles Thursday
Anthony Cirelli

A Game-Time Call Thursday
Logan Thompson

Comes Up Big In Game 2
Connor McMichael

Strikes Twice In Wednesday's Win
Anze Kopitar

Tallies Four Points In Game 2 Victory
Adrian Kempe

Notches Two Goals, Two Assists In Wednesday's Win
Tyler Seguin

Gives Stars Series Lead With Overtime Winner
Gabriel Landeskog

Delivers Six Hits In First Game Since 2022
Tyler Herro

Scores Game-High 33 Points In Wednesday's Loss
Donovan Mitchell

Fires In 30 Points In Game 2 Win
Paolo Banchero

Notches 32 Points In Game 2 Loss
Jaylen Brown

Posts 36-Point Double-Double Wednesday
Jalen Green

Erupts For 38 Points In Game 2 Victory
Brandin Podziemski

Limited To 14 Minutes Wednesday
Jimmy Butler III

Set For MRI Thursday
Brandin Podziemski

Upgraded To Available
Cam Davis

Looking For Better Fortunes At TPC Louisiana
Michael Porter Jr.

Listed As Questionable For Game 3
Adam Svensson

Making Third Apperence At Zurich Classic
Davion Mitchell

Moves Into Starting Lineup Wednesday
Brandin Podziemski

Picks Up Questionable Tag
Al Horford

Starts Game 2
Michael Porter Jr.

Practices On Wednesday
Jayson Tatum

Out On Wednesday
Isaiah Stewart

May Miss Another Game Thursday
NYI

Cal Clutterbuck Announces Retirement
Pavel Zacha

Recovering From Small Procedure
Nikolaj Ehlers

To Miss At Least Two More Games
Miro Heiskanen

Still Out On Wednesday
John Klingberg

Enters Oilers Lineup For Game 2
Evander Kane

To Make Season Debut Wednesday Night
Jaren Jackson Jr.

Posts Team-High 26 Points In Tuesday's Loss
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Notches 27 Points Despite Poor Shooting
Max Greyserman

Aiming For Similar Success At TPC Louisiana
Pascal Siakam

Scores Team-High 24 Points In Game 2 Win
Lee Hodges

A High-Upside Player In New Orleans
PGA

Nico Echavarria Looks To Ride Off Of Elite Putting In New Orleans
Gary Woodland

A Player Worth Watching In New Orleans
Max McGreevy

Returns To The Zurich Classic Of New Orleans
Rasmus Hojgaard

In Search Of Consistency Ahead Of Zurich Classic
Sam Stevens

A Boom-Or-Bust Candidate In New Orleans
Nicolai Hojgaard

Looking To Turn Season Around At Zurich Classic
Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Looks To Sway A Hot Putter In Teams Favor At Zurich Classic
Akshay Bhatia

Looking To Bounce Back At TPC Louisiana
Carson Young

Looks To Turn Things Around At TPC Louisiana
Erik Van Rooyen

Looking For Momentum In Louisiana
Andrew Novak

Making Start At TPC Louisiana After Near Miss At Harbour Town
Ben Griffin

Making Third Career Start At Zurich Classic
Taylor Moore

Competing With A New Teammate In New Orleans
Wyndham Clark

Making Return To New Orleans
Kurt Kitayama

Teeing It Up Again In New Orleans
Collin Morikawa

Back At Zurich Classic For Fifth Time
Thomas Detry

Making Third Appearance At New Orleans Team Event
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF