New St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jake Westbrook has been striking out NL opponents at a record pace.
Jake Westbrook joined the St. Louis Cardinals with the reputation as a ground ball specialist. Apparently he didn’t get the memo, as the 32-year-old stuck out seven in his six-inning Cardinals debut and followed that up with a nine-K performance in seven frames in Miami Saturday night.
Westbrook’s 16 strikeouts over his first two games wearing the Birds on the Bat ties him with “Toothpick” Sam Jones for the whiffingest pair of debuts in team history since at least 1920. John Smoltz joined the list with 15 one year ago.
Strikeouts, St. Louis Cardinals pitchers, first two games with team, 1920-2010
| Pitcher | Year | 2G total | StL debut | Game 2 |
| Jake Westbrook | 2010 | 16 | 7 | 9 |
| Sam Jones | 1957 | 16 | 11 | 5 |
| John Smoltz | 2009 | 15 | 9 | 6 |
| Chuck Finley | 2002 | 15 | 8 | 7 |
| Kip Wells | 2007 | 14 | 7 | 7 |
| Joe Magrane | 1987 | 13 | 7 | 6 |
| Sonny Siebert | 1974 | 13 | 6 | 7 |
| Howie Pollet | 1941 | 13 | 7 | 6 |
| Scipio Spinks | 1972 | 12 | 5 | 7 |
Thanks to researcher Tom Orf for the above table.
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