Baseball is a game of failure, but some teams just make it look a lot more frequent. If you watched any significant amount of West Coast baseball last year, you saw plenty of breeze. The 2025 season was a weird one. We saw massive power numbers from guys like Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh, but the trade-off was a historic amount of "whiffing."
Honestly, looking at the final numbers for most team strikeouts 2025, one team stands alone in a way they probably wish they didn't. The Los Angeles Angels. They didn't just lead the league; they basically lived in the K-column.
The 2025 Strikeout Leaderboard: Who Swung Through It?
The Los Angeles Angels finished the 2025 season with a staggering 1,627 strikeouts. To put that in perspective, that’s more than ten per game. It's a rough way to play. When you’re averaging double-digit punchies every night, you’re putting a lot of pressure on your pitchers to be perfect.
But they weren't the only ones struggling to find the barrel. The Colorado Rockies weren't far behind, racking up 1,531 strikeouts. It’s a bit of a paradox because the ball usually flies at Coors Field, but you have to actually hit it first.
Here is how the top of the "swing and miss" list looked by the end of the 162-game grind:
- Los Angeles Angels: 1,627
- Colorado Rockies: 1,531
- New York Yankees: 1,463
- Baltimore Orioles: 1,457
- Detroit Tigers: 1,454
The Yankees being third might surprise some people given they had such a monster year in the standings. But when your lineup is built on the "three true outcomes"—home runs, walks, and strikeouts—you're going to see a lot of air.
Why the Angels Led the League
It wasn't just one guy. It was a collective effort of aggressive hacking. Mike Trout, Taylor Ward, Jo Adell, and Zach Neto all finished in the top 50 for individual strikeouts. Adell, specifically, has always had that high-ceiling, high-K profile. In 2025, he hit 37 home runs, but he paid for it with a lot of trips back to the dugout.
The Angels' team Whiff% sat at 28.6%. That is incredibly high. Basically, every third or fourth swing resulted in nothing but a breeze.
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The Rockies' Altitude Problem
For Colorado, the issue was a bit different. Ryan McMahon and Jordan Beck were the primary culprits here. McMahon actually spent part of his season with the Yankees after a July trade, but his strikeout rate actually jumped to 39% once he got to the Bronx.
The Rockies' approach has often been criticized for being too aggressive. In 2025, that aggression led to the second-highest total in the majors. When you combine the movement of breaking balls at sea level (during away games) with the lack of "feel" back in Denver, these hitters were often guessing. They guessed wrong 1,531 times.
The Flip Side: Who Put the Ball in Play?
It's kinda refreshing to look at the teams that didn't treat the strike zone like a suggestion. The Kansas City Royals were the kings of contact in 2025. They only struck out 1,096 times. That is a massive 531-K difference compared to the Angels.
- Kansas City Royals: 1,096
- Toronto Blue Jays: 1,099
- San Diego Padres: 1,161
- Miami Marlins: 1,247
- Milwaukee Brewers: 1,266
The Royals didn't have a single player break the 130-strikeout mark. Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez both finished with exactly 125, which is incredibly disciplined for guys who provide that much power.
Then you have the Padres. Having Luis Arraez in your lineup is basically a cheat code for this stat. The guy just refuses to strike out. When your lead-off hitter is always putting the ball in play, it sets a tone for the whole dugout.
Does Striking Out Actually Matter?
This is the big debate in modern analytics. The Yankees had the third-most strikeouts, yet they had one of the best records in the American League. Why? Because they also led the league in home runs (274).
If you strike out 1,400 times but hit 250+ homers, the math usually works out in your favor. The problem arises when you strike out like the Angels (1,627) but only hit 226 homers. You're left with a lot of empty innings.
Seattle is another interesting case. They had three of the top ten individual strikeout leaders—Cal Raleigh, Eugenio Suarez, and Randy Arozarena. Raleigh actually led the league in home runs with 60, but he also fanned 188 times. Mariners fans will tell you they'll take the 60 bombs any day of the week, but the 1,446 total team strikeouts kept them out of the top five most-victimized teams.
Individual "Leaders" of 2025
If we're looking at the guys who contributed most to these team totals, the names are a mix of superstars and young swingers:
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- James Wood (WSH): 221 (The undisputed K-king of 2025)
- Riley Greene (DET): 201
- Kyle Schwarber (PHI): 197
- Eugenio Suarez (SEA): 196
- Rafael Devers (SF): 192
James Wood is a fascinating one. He's a physical freak with massive power, but his long levers mean a bigger strike zone. 221 strikeouts is a lot, but he still put up an .825 OPS. It's the "New Baseball" in a nutshell.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Bettors
If you're looking at these stats for the 2026 season or just trying to understand the game better, keep these things in mind:
Watch the Whiff Rate: Total strikeouts can be misleading if a team plays a lot of extra-inning games. Whiff% (how often they miss when they swing) is a much better indicator of a team's true offensive plate discipline.
Home/Road Splits: The Rockies are the classic example. Their strikeout rates usually spike on the road because breaking balls move differently than they do in Coors Field.
The Power Trade-off: Don't panic if your favorite team is high on the list, as long as they are also high on the home run list. The danger zone is being a high-strikeout team with low-power numbers—that's a recipe for a losing season.
The 2025 season proved that the strikeout isn't the "automatic out" it used to be in terms of team success, but for teams like the Angels and Rockies, it was the anchor that kept them at the bottom of the standings.
Focus on teams that can balance the "swing for the fences" mentality with at least a mediocre contact rate. Teams that can stay under the 1,300 mark while maintaining a league-average ISO are usually the ones playing deep into October.