In this week’s power rankings at ESPN Dan McCarthy of ESPN Stats & Information noted something incredible:
There are now only four pitchers in the live ball era (since 1920) to qualify for the ERA title with an ERA under 2.00, a WHIP below 1.00 and a strikeout percentage over 30: Pedro Martínez (1997 and 2000), Clayton Kershaw (2014), Jacob deGrom (2018) and Snell (2018).
That is quite select company,
A 30% or better strikeout rate is the gatekeeper in that stat line for most of MLB history.