Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

Orioles vs. White Sox: Strikeout Saturday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By John Laghezza | Last updated May 31, 2025 2:23 PM ET

It only takes one peek at Baltimore's box scores this season to notice Dean Kremer's obvious struggles on the hill (5.02 ERA, 1.39 WHIP). With that in mind, a common thread throughout 2025 for the Orioles' 29-year-old righty has certainly been the marked drop in strikeouts year-over-year.

And what exactly do you expect with that degree of degradation in whiffs in exchange for more zone contact? Chickens will eventually come home to roost...

Kremer failed to eclipse five strikeouts in eight of his last ten games started, and there's not much on the spreadsheet to indicate any sort of trend change on the horizon.

98 Stuff+
16.6% Strikeout
10.6% K-BB
8.5% Swinging Strike
26.2% CSW
31.0% Chase
90.5% Zone-Contact
0 Individual Pitches +24% Whiff

One reason for the elevated line despite a general lack of strikeouts must be the public's willingness to dogpile the White Sox, perceived as a dumpster fire. While I won't claim Chicago's surging to the top of my power rankings, there's one element they've excelled in with the introduction of all these new faces — disciplinary approach. Maybe, just maybe, the culture's shifting on the Southside.

Chicago White Sox — Last 14 Days vs RHP (355 PA)

20.3% K — T-12th
10.4% BB — 5th
10.6% Swinging Strike — T-9th
22.6% Chase — Leads MLB
84.9% Zone-Contact — T-9th

LAGHEZZA'S LEAN:

When I noticed MGM came in nearly 25 cents cheaper than the consensus market price of (-120) for this prop, I jumped on it myself. Who's tailing DEAN KREMER UNDER 5 STRIKESOUTS (+105)

STRIKEOUT / PITCHING PROP PRO TIP:

This one's simple. Be careful using simple, generic strikeout rates to project your player props. Pitching attack analysis should consist of a more layered and nuanced approach for

Command + Control (I use Ball% > BB%)
Swing-and-miss (I use Swinging Strike, but also include called strikes, or CSW%)
Elevation (Don't cite Groundball% / Flyball% without knowing Infield Fly%)
Home Runs (Don't cite HR/9 without knowing HR/FB%)

To give you an idea of how I build out my daily SP sheets, here's a sneak peek behind my Substack data paywall

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: