MLB

Fantasy Baseball: 4 Starting Pitchers to Target for Strikeout Gains in 2017

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Feb 13th, 2017
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Masahiro Tanaka, New York Yankees

Swinging-Strike Rate (Rank): 10.9% (20th)

Strikeout Rate (Rank): 20.5% (40th)

Some may look at Japanese sensation Masahiro Tanaka and see red flags, such as a dip in strikeout rate since his debut season (26.0% in '14, 22.8% in '15 and 20.5% in '16). Were those 1,811 innings he pitched overseas finally catching up to him?

A closer look at Tanaka's 2016 actually reveals a fantastic season that was punctuated with a superb second half. Tanaka bumped up his strikeout rate 2.4% to 21.9% after the All-Star break, and he was nearly unhittable in August -- the right-hander produced a superb 25.3% strikeout rate with a meager .256 wOBA allowed in 39 innings.

Tanaka also led all qualified starters over the last month of 2016 with a 27.2% soft-contact rate. He appeared to get stronger as the year went on, and he could make a big leap in 2017, watching his strikeout rate catch up to his swinging-strike rate.

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