In baseball, a power pitcher is a pitcher who relies on the velocity of his pitches, sometimes at the expense of accuracy. Power pitchers usually record a high number of strikeouts and statistics such as strikeouts per 9 innings pitched are common measures of power.^[1] An average pitcher strikes out about 5 batters per nine innings while a prototypical power pitcher will strike out one or more every inning.^[1] The prototypical power pitcher is National Baseball Hall of Fame member, Nolan Ryan,^[2] who struck out a Major League Baseball record 5,714 batters in 5,386 innings. Ryan recorded seven no-hitters, appeared in eight Major League Baseball All-Star Games but also holds the record for most walks issued (2795).^[3] Other prominent power pitchers include Hall of Famers Walter Johnson, Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, and Bob Feller who led his league in strikeouts and walks several times.^[4]

The traditional school of thought on power pitching was "throw till you blow"^[5] but multimillion-dollar contracts have changed mentalities.^[5] The number of pitches thrown is now counted by a team's staff, with particular attention paid to young power arms.^[5] The care which some of the older power pitchers took with their arms allowed for long careers and further opportunity after they stopped playing.^[6]

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