What Is Strikeout Rate in Softball?

Strikeout rate is strikeouts divided by plate appearances. It's the inverse of contact: a low rate means you put the ball in play, which at minimum gives the defence a chance to make a mistake.

Like walk rate, it stabilises quickly — a few dozen plate appearances tell you more about a hitter's strikeout rate than about their batting average, because the outcome doesn't depend on where fielders happen to be standing.

Strikeouts are uncommon in slowpitch, where the pitch arrives slowly and on an arc. Across the tracked rec-league sample only about 5.8% of plate appearances end in a strikeout, so a slowpitch hitter striking out often is a genuine outlier.