Monday night baseball trivia: Who are the only three pitchers in MLB history

[True Dough]

to record 160+ strikeouts and an ERA below 2.40 through their first 28 MLB games?

(I know 28 MLB games seems rather random, but I didn't make up the question, just stumbled upon it.)

[Diamond_Dog]

1. Can you give us any hints?

[True Dough]

2. Two of the three are playing today and they're both age 25 or younger.

The third player was active between 2010 and 2022.

So all three are of recent vintage.

[Diamond_Dog]

3. One of them has to be Ohtani?

[True Dough]

5. One of them

is not Ohtani!

[JMCKUSICK]

4. Dwight Goode , Jacob Misiorowski and Hunter Greene?

Ok, erase Gooden and Greene, add Skenes and Bob Feller

[True Dough]

6. O-for-3, John!

The mighty Casey strikes out!

[JMCKUSICK]

7. I changed and added Skenes and Bob Feller

[True Dough]

9. Now, you're

1-for-3!

Skenes made the list!

[JMCKUSICK]

11. I happened upon the answer, pretty sure on the same site, so had to stop guessing.

I wouldn't have guessed the older one in a million years, great question.

[True Dough]

12. The "older one"

never got to be that old, tragically.

[JMCKUSICK]

13. Right, he was the one that died in a boat crash

If I remember right.

[True Dough]

14. Indeed

Gone too soon.

[Imalittleteapot]

8. Kaufax, Maddox, Gibson, Kershaw

Husband picks, not mine.

[True Dough]

10. Give your husband my regards

and break it to him gently that not one of those answers is correct.

[RazorbackExpat]

15. Bob Gibson?

Nolan Ryan? Sandy Koufax? Tom Seaver? Warren Spahn?

[True Dough]

16. One was identified above: Paul Skenes

Another is Cam Schlittler. And the third is the late Jose Fernandez.

Two of them young bucks in today's game, the other played from 2013-2016, so all modern-era players.

Now, whether Skenes or Schlittler can anywhere near the longevity and career success of the legends that you named, well, it's probably a long shot, but it remains to be seen.

[RazorbackExpat]

18. I've never heard of these guys

I kind of lost track of things back in the '80s. I heard of my Cardinals winning in 2011, after that, nothing until Shohei Ohtani made it to the Major Leagues, and now he's sort of a national hero here in Japan.

[True Dough]

20. Not surprised to hear that.

Ohtani is unlike anything the game has ever seen. You could argue Ruth. He was the better career hitter, but Ohtani has overtaken Ruth on the mound and has more stolen bases.

[RazorbackExpat]

22. He has been compared to Ruth here in Japan

They're talking about him like he's a "once in a century" kind of player. I like him, he's a "down to earth" kind of guy, but I really don't like the Dodgers. I've been a Cards fan since 1967, when I listened to their games on my little transistor radio and I got a Major League roster of all teams from the local DX station

[True Dough]

23. I'm with you on the Dodgers

I resent teams purchasing championships. That means the Yankees are in the same category, but they just haven't been as successful at it lately.

One of the most satisfying things in pro sports is seeing small market teams like Tampa enjoy great success despite a fraction of the payroll, but they haven't put it all together (came close in 2020 but lost to those damn Dodgers).

The KC Royals won the World Series in 2015. So there's that.

[RazorbackExpat]

24. I actually went to a couple of Royals games back in the '70s

My friend's dad took us to Kansas City, that was his home area. We watched one game in the old municipal stadium, and one in the new stadium (1973). My team was still the Cards, and I bought a Cards pennant at the souvenir shop. The guys at the souvenir shop asked me why I was buying a Cards pennant, and I said "Because I like them"

[True Dough]

25. So you got to watch Lou Brock play for the Cards?

Heckuva ball player and FAST!

[ilivedthrulife]

17. Holy Moly

ive no clue

[True Dough]

19. The answers

are literally one post above yours!

[ilivedthrulife]

21. I understand,,

Holy Moly was a reference to Bob Ueker
In Major League movie

[JT45242]

26. All would have to be modern players... striking out at the rate that most MLB hitters do would have been benching before

When it comes to strikeout as a pitcher -- you can generally expect a few things will be true.

1. No one pitching today will ever put up the kinds of totals that guys in the past did. They pitch too few games, have innings an pitch count limits. You will not see the kind of durability stats and totals that you once did. Bronson Arroyo (a middle of the road pitcher had 8 200 inning seasons and another 199).
2. Pitchers today will absolutely dominate in strikeouts per inning statistics over the pitchers of the past becasue it is acceptable to have strikeout rates that were unthinkable even 20 years ago. Last year, 47% of ALL QUALIFIED HITTERS struck out at least 20% of the time.
In the 1990s that number ranged from 5-6%. From 2000-2009 it was 4-5% with an overall K rate of about 16-17%. Now it is over 24%

I watch less and less baseball these days because I get sick of watching strikeout after strikeout with no one trying to put the ball in play.

[rampartd]

27. the bird guy freidrich?

drysdale? koufax?