In 2009, Mark Reynolds set the single season mark with 223 strikeouts in a season. It should be noted that he hit 44 HR’s that year, had an OPS of .892 and finished 20th in the MVP voting.

Here is quick look at some Twins pace given Reynolds 662 AB’s he had in 2009:

Byron Buxton, on pace for 352 strikeouts (53.3% k rate). .497 OPS.

Miguel Sano, on pace for 285 strikeouts (43.2% k rate). .766 OPS.

Oswaldo Arcia, on pace for 245 strikeouts (37.1% k rate). .795 OPS.

Park, on pace for 212 strikeouts (32.1% k rate). .853 OPS.

Eddie Rosario, on pace for 172 strikeouts (26.1% k rate). .567 OPS.

As a team, the 2013 Astros hold the all-time record of 1,535 strikeouts (25.5% rate). The Twins with their 24.4% rate would finish with 1,468 k’s with the same number of at bats. When I saw the 2013 Astros I thought, well the it worked out pretty well for them. They are good now, let’s stick with the young guys come hell or high water. But looking the 2013 team, very few of those hitters are part of the good young nucleus they have now. In fact, a 23 year old Jose Altuve was the only key guy that was among the top 8 in AB’s. He also struck out only 85 times in over 600 AB’s in 2013.

My prediction is that the single season strikeout record will remain with the Astros, but Miguel Sano will set the individual record. I think Buxton will be spared by going back to AAA, which likely happens in the next week or two. He just is not putting up competitive at bats right now. It should be noted that Sano, Arcia, and Park have respectable if not good OPS numbers (Park especially). Given what Sano and Rosario did last year I stick with them up here. Sano could cut down on his swing a tad with two strikes and Rosario needs better plate discipline, but they should work that out with the Twins.

The scary comparison is the 51 win 2013 Astros had an OPS of .674, in the same ballpark as the Twins .687. Now the Twins pitching this year has been much better (3.80 vs. 4.79), but the offensive numbers are alarming.