Astros Flamethrower Gerrit Cole Reaches 300 Strikeouts In 2019 Season

MSN reports:

Gerrit Cole has been dealing all year in his second campaign donning an Astros' uniform. Now he owns a piece of team history.

Cole became just the 18th different pitcher since 1900 and the third Houston arm to rack up 300 strikeouts in a season.

He rounded his total by striking out Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo in the top of the sixth inning of Wednesday's game against Texas with his team leading 2-0.

Mike Scott (1986) and J.R. Richard (1978-79) were the other two Houston arms to reach the mark. Pedro Martinez in 1999 was the last American League pitcher to do it.

Cole managed to reach the milestone in 198.1 innings, the second fewest of any pitcher in history. Randy Johnson, one of the most prolific strikeout artists of all time, did it in 197.2 innings in 2001. Johnson had five consecutive 300-strikeout seasons between 1998 and 2002. He finished his career with six 300-strikeout seasons, which is tied with all-time strikeout leader Nolan Ryan for the most in MLB history.

There have been four 300-strikeout seasons in the 2010 decade, with Max Scherzer reaching exactly 300 last season, Clayton Kershaw hitting the mark at 301 in 2015 and Chris Sale topping out at 308 in 2017.

Cole, the first overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft, oozed potential in Pittsburgh before seemingly reaching his ceiling in Houston with back-to-back 6-plus WAR seasons since being traded in the 2017 offseason. He posted a 2.88 ERA in 2018 and has been even better in 2019, having posted a 2.54 mark so far in 2019.

The right-handed fireballer, whose fastball has always averaged 95-plus miles per hour, maintained strikeout rates below 25 percent when he was with the Pirates, peaking at 24.2 percent in 2014. With the Astros, that number sky-rocketed in his first season alone, reaching 34.5 percent. It has been at 39.4 percent in 2019.

Cole finds himself in the midst of a battle for the American League Cy Young with teammate Justin Verlander, who leads the league with a 2.50 ERA. Cole's 6.5 WAR, according to Fangraphs, leads the majors above Scherzer's 6.4 mark in the National League.