Cleveland Indians starting pitchers make strikeout history

Wednesday night Trevor Bauer recorded his 100th strikeout of the season. His teammates Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, and Danny Salazar had each already reached the century mark. This is the first time in baseball history that four pitchers on the same team have struck out 100+ batters before the All-Star break.

Kluber is currently at 148, tops in the American League, tops in the American League. Carrasco is at 115 and ranks 4th. Salazar is at 108 and ranks 6th. Bauer is at 102 and ranks 12th.

If you simply divide each pitcher's total by the 84 games the Tribe has played so far, and then multiply that figure by the 162 games the Tribe will end up playing, you get a crude idea of how many strikeouts they are on pace for:

• Kluber: 285
• Carrasco: 222
• Salazar: 208
• Bauer: 197

The most strikeouts any team has ever had four starters reach is 181, which was cleared by David Cone, Dwight Gooden, Frank Viola, and Sid Fernandez on the 1990 Mets.

Throw in the various other pitchers who have started games for the Indians this year, and you get a combined total of 527 strikeouts by Tribe starters, easily the most of any rotation. They are on pace for 1,016, which would break the record for any starting rotation, which is currently 992, held by the 2002 Diamondbacks, a team led by Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling.

With the addition of Francisco Lindor and Giovanny Urshela to the infield, balls in play aren't as treacherous for Tribe pitchers as they were earlier in the season. Don't tell the rotation though, let's let them make a run at history.