Yankees Pitching Staff Sets Team Record for Strikeouts in a Season

The 2014 season has been a year of highs and lows for the New York Yankees, and despite losing several arms to injuries, the pitching staff has broken the previous franchise record of 1,318 strikeouts, according to a tweet from MLB Stat of the Day.

Though he missed more than two months of action because of a partially torn UCL in his right elbow, Masahiro Tanaka has been the main producer of strikeouts, leading the team with 139 entering Thursday's game against the Baltimore Orioles. Hiroki Kuroda, who is scheduled to pitch Thursday, is second on the team with 137 and should be able to take the team lead during his outing.

The New York relievers have been the real nexus for the team record, starting with the breakout season of Dellin Betances. Over 70 relief appearances, Betances has retired 135 batters on strikes, good for a spectacular 13.50 K/9 rate which represents a record for a Yankees reliever.

Although he'll fall short of triple digits, closer David Robertson has chipped in 92 strikeouts to the cause through just 62.1 innings. He's followed on the team strikeouts leaderboard by David Phelps (90), Brandon McCarthy (82) and Shane Green (81).

Thirty-one pitchers have fanned at least one batter while in a Yankee uniform this season, with 22 players tallying double-digit K's. 

Sitting at 1,326 strikeouts with four games remaining in the 2014 season, the Yankees will have some time to put distance between this year's total and the prior team record of 1,318 set in 2012. After Thursday's game against Baltimore, the Yankees will finish the season with a three-game series against the archrival Boston Red Sox, a team that ranks third in the American League with 1,297 strikeouts this year.

All stats courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise specified.