Strikeouts are probably the most glorified stat in baseball for pitchers. Being able to send a batter back to the dugout without putting the ball in play is a great way to tell that they took advantage of a situation. If you are looking at the attributes of your pitcher and wondering what K/9 means, here is a quick breakdown.
Related: What does H/9 mean in MLB The Show 22?
K/9 stands for strikeouts per nine innings. Essentially, if this attribute is high, that pitcher has great success in making the batter swing and miss on their pitches, especially in counts with two strikes. This can be a vital stat for pitchers who rely heavily on fastballs, so they don’t get barreled up as often.
However, there is a downside to having your pitcher rely on strikeouts to get their outs in an inning. If you are consistently getting into counts where you have two strikes on a player or they foul off pitches, your pitch count will quickly rise. If you don’t replace them, this can lead to your pitcher tiring out and potentially underperforming later in the game. Of course, if they are dominating, that can often be worth the risk, but in close games you want to keep a careful eye on how well your pitcher is causing swings and misses.
