PITCHERS FIRING BLANKS AT RECORD PACE
Shutouts becoming the norm this summer
WASHINGTON Jason Castro is plenty familiar with the guys who were on the TV in the Houston Astros clubhouse Wednesday.
Castro’s Astros see more than enough of American League West opponents the Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics, teams that have contributed 20 shutouts to an upswing in spectacular pitching performances this season that already is bordering on historic levels.
“Guys have pretty outstanding command and confidence in at least three pitches now, it seems,” says Castro, who deals with the good and bad of the phenomenon as a catcher. “Some even more than that.”
That’s an indication why, though overall pitching is gradually improving, the spike is more pronounced for especially dominating performances.
While Castro was talking, three Baltimore Orioles pitchers completed a shutout at the Tampa Bay Rays, the 163rd of this major league season. That’s one every 6.34 games, well beyond the record one in 6.77 games in 1915.
And that doesn’t even count another game Wednesday in which the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox combined for no runs and four hits in nine innings. No nine-inning game this season has provided as few as four total hits, but since both teams scored in the 10th inning, neither gets credit for a shutout.
No matter. Baseball is still on pace for 377 shutouts, which would blow away the 359 in 1915, as well as the 357 in 1972, the most since baseball went to a 162game schedule.
Since baseball expanded to 30 teams — creating more games but also diluting pitching — the high mark is 331, achieved last season. This year, big arms and bigger performances are up yet again.
“There are so many big pitchers with electric stuff right now, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised,” says St. Louis Cardinals manager and ex-catcher Mike Matheny, whose staff leads the majors with 14 shutouts. “We’ve got a lot of talent in the game.”
Good thing the Cardinals already have just one fewer shutout than all of last season. Take away their 14-0 record when throwing a shutout, and they’re 25-33.
They’ve won four 1-0 games this year and have been involved in 10 shutouts since May 20.
It’s not just shutouts. The dominance can come like lightning.
Two weeks ago, the Astros were victims of what’s known as an immaculate inning from Garrett Richards of the Los Angeles Angels. That’s nine pitches — all strikes — for three strikeouts.
This season already has produced five immaculate innings, tying the 1998 record for a full season. That’s one more than the last two seasons combined.
“Guys are not willing to give in like they have in the past,” Castro says of pitchers. “You get behind in a count, that is no reason anymore for guys to throw you a fastball. Guys are willing and able to throw pretty much anything at any time regardless of count or situation, so that makes it more difficult for hitters.”
Twenty-eight of this season’s shutouts have been completed by one pitcher, with the Miami Marlins’ Henderson Alvarez the leader with three.
While Texas tops the AL and is second in the majors with 13 team shutouts, the Rangers also have allowed more runs a game than any team but the Arizona Diamondbacks. It’s the special pitchers who are skewing some of the remarkable numbers.
The Rangers’ Martin Perez has two complete-game shutouts, and Yu Darvish has been involved in five Texas shutouts, though he completed only one.
“Darvish is a pretty prime example,” says Castro, whose team lost a shutout in which Darvish allowed one hit in eight innings. “He has an overpowering fastball. But, with his other pitches, he doesn’t have the need to throw it all the time. That’s what makes him so good.”
Much like the Rangers, six of the Athletics’ seven shutouts have been group efforts.
“It used to be that if you knock the starting pitcher out early, you can do some damage,” Matheny says. “Not so much anymore.”