Indians Pitching Staff Sets Single-Season Record with 1,450 Strikeouts

The Cleveland Indians pitching staff set a Major League Baseball record by striking out 1,450 batters during the 2014 season, per MLB Stat of the Day.

In the friendliest campaign for hurlers since the early 1980s, the Cleveland pitching staff was nearly bested by the Tampa Bay Rays staff, which finished the year with 1,437 strikeouts.

The previous MLB record of 1,428 strikeouts was set by the 2013 Detroit Tigers, while the National League record of 1,404 still belongs to the 2003 Chicago Cubs, per MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.

With strikeouts around the league at an all-time high over the last few seasons, the '03 Cubs stick out for being ahead of their time.

Led by right-handed starters Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, the club recorded an MLB-high 1,404 strikeouts in a season that saw every other team fall short of 1,300, with all but the Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers also falling short of 1,150.

In 2014, there were nine teams with 1,300 or more strikeouts, and all but four teams—the Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies and Minnesota Twins—topped 1,050.

The Indians needed a true team effort to reach their record-setting total, as only ace Corey Kluber—who recorded 269 strikeouts—fanned more than 142 batters.

Kluber was followed by fellow starters Trevor Bauer (142), Carlos Carrasco (140), Danny Salazar (120), Josh Tomlin (94) and Justin Masterson (93), while the Cleveland bullpen finished seventh in the majors with 504 strikeouts. The Indians got an 8.92 K/9 mark from their starters, easily topping the Rays (8.48) and Los Angeles Dodgers (8.39) for best in the majors.