Paxton, Pivetta combine for second-most Ks by Canuck duo in a season
Seattle Mariners lefty James Paxton (Ladner, B.C.) finished with 208 strikeouts in 2018. Photo Credit: USA Today Sports
By Neil Munro
Canadian Baseball Network
There is no doubt that Ferguson Jenkins (Chatham, Ont.) is the top Canadian hurler at fanning opposing batters in his major league career.
His 3,192 career strikeouts are more than 1,000 ahead of runner-up Ryan Dempster (Gibsons, B.C.), and his many eye-popping yearly totals are just as inspiring. Jenkins fanned more than 200 batters in six different seasons and had four campaigns in which he exceeded the 250 K level. However, what are the best combined strikeout totals amassed by two Canadian pitchers in the same season?
Well, Jenkins still remains part of Canada’s leading strikeout duo for one season, but he (and Reggie Cleveland (Swift Current, Sask.)) were almost dethroned in the 2018 season by James Paxton (Ladner, B.C.) and Nick Pivetta (Victoria, B.C.). Jenkins (with 263 batters fanned) and Cleveland (148 Ks) combined for 411 opponents sent down on strikeouts in the 1971 season. For most of this past season, it seemed as though Paxton and Pivetta were certain to beat that standard, but injuries and slumps diminished their strikeout totals, and the duo finished with a combine 396 strikeouts (208 for Paxton and 188 for Pivetta).
Paxton became just the seventh Canadian to fan more than 200 batters in a single season (see the list of the all-time Canadians in the accompanying tables below). Paxton did set the best single-season Canadian rate for strikeouts by a starting pitcher in 2018; his 11.68 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched topped the rate of 11.01 rung up by Rich Harden (Victoria, B.C.) in 2008. Harden split his time that year with Oakland and the Chicago Cubs. Erik Bedard (Navan, Ont.) actually posted a league-leading strikeout rate in 2007 (pitching with Baltimore) when he fanned an average of 10.93 batters per 9 innings, a feat that even eluded Jenkins in his career.
Eric Gagne (Mascouche, Que.) had many impressive campaigns with even higher strikeout rates as a relief pitcher, climaxed by his 14.98 Ks per 9 IP in 2003. Gagne was the NL Cy Young Winner with the Dodgers that season. However, most fireball relief aces usually fan batters at a much higher rate than do the starting pitchers.
The tables below list Canada’s top strikeout performances in a career, during a single season, and as a combined total of two pitchers for one season. Needless to say, many of the top duos involve Jenkins and another pitcher. Paxton seemed certain to eclipse Jenkins feat of posting 9 games with ten or more strikeouts in a single season (accomplished in 1970) but he eventually settled for eight such outings this past year. Paxton did break the Canadian single game high mark for strikeouts in 2018 when he fanned 16 Oakland batters on May 2nd. Perhaps his excellent campaign in strikeout feats actually pales alongside his tossing a no-hitter against our Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on May 8. Amazing as it may seem, Paxton struck our “only” seven Blue Jays batters in his no-hit gem.
The career leaders for strikeouts by Canadian Pitchers (end of 2018 season)
Top single season strikeout performances by Canadians
Top strikeouts by a pair of Canadians in the same season (minimum combined 300 strikeouts)