Highest Whiff Rates By Pitch Type for Starters

Strikeouts are at an all-time high in 2012, with pitchers sending a whopping 19.4 percent of batters faced back to the dugout following a K. Which pitches are contributing most to that punch out total? Here's a rundown of the highest whiff rates by pitch type for starting pitchers.

Fastball (minimum 100 pitches thrown)

Pitcher	Miss Pct.
Zach McAllister	26.2%
Jeff Niemann	24.5%
Matt Moore	24.3%
Gio Gonzalez	24.3%
Wei-Yin Chen	24.0%
Erik Bedard	23.1%
Drew Pomeranz	23.1%
Justin Verlander	23.0%
Max Scherzer	22.6%
Jon Niese	21.5%
MLB Avg.	14.9%

Sinker (minimum 100 pitches thrown)

Pitcher	Miss Pct.
Justin Masterson	19.7%
Derek Holland	19.6%
Jake Arrieta	17.5%
Bruce Chen	16.9%
Edinson Volquez	16.7%
Mike Pelfrey	16.7%
Trevor Cahill	15.7%
Ross Detwiler	15.2%
CC Sabathia	14.9%
Chris Capuano	14.1%
MLB Avg.	12.4%

Slider (minimum 50 pitches thrown)

Pitcher	Miss Pct.
Edwin Jackson	60.0%
Trevor Cahill	55.6%
James McDonald	44.9%
Drew Smyly	44.6%
Kyle Weiland	44.1%
Anthony Bass	44.0%
Matt Garza	43.9%
CC Sabathia	43.4%
Derek Holland	43.2%
Clayton Kershaw	43.0%
MLB Avg.	30.7%

Curveball (minimum 50 pitches thrown)

Pitcher	Miss Pct.
Dan Haren	53.8%
David Price	52.0%
Kyle Drabek	48.5%
Edinson Volquez	45.7%
A. J. Burnett	43.2%
Yu Darvish	41.7%
Ivan Nova	41.1%
Jeremy Hellickson	40.9%
Joe Wieland	40.4%
Edwin Jackson	40.0%
MLB Avg.	28.4%

Changeup (minimum 50 pitches thrown)

Pitcher	Miss Pct.
Stephen Strasburg	52.2%
Randall Delgado	48.2%
Cole Hamels	47.0%
Johan Santana	47.0%
Jon Lester	46.9%
Joe Blanton	46.3%
Jaime Garcia	45.7%
CC Sabathia	45.0%
Chris Capuano	41.5%
Felix Doubront	40.0%
MLB Avg.	28.3%

Cutter (minimum 50 pitches thrown)

Pitcher	Miss Pct.
Dillon Gee	46.4%
Gavin Floyd	39.9%
Kyle Drabek	37.1%
Luke Hochevar	36.6%
Josh Tomlin	35.0%
Josh Beckett	33.8%
Tim Hudson	32.8%
Matt Harrison	32.3%
Chad Billingsley	32.0%
Jerome Williams	31.2%
MLB Avg.	20.8%