Are Strikeouts Really a Problem for Dodgers

Bear and others have been consistent with their disdain for strikeouts.  I am usually in that category, but OTOH the Dodgers seemingly have promoted slug over contact, which is why we see too many LAD hitters not take a good 2-strike approach.  Player or team philosophy?

Shohei Ohtani has always been a strikeout hitter with BIG SLUG.  Last year his K% was 25.7% while his career is 25.5%.  Shohei always has and always will swing as hard as he can every time.  Last year, NL average K% was 21.9%, which was better than the AL rate of 22.6%.  Ohtani has a penchant for striking out, and a penchant for hitting monstrous HR.  I will take the strikeouts as long as there is the chance for that game changing HR.  That is who he is.  He has three straight MVP awards and 4 out of the last five years.  I am not going to bet against him in 2026.  Two looks of Shohei:

Here is a compiled list of LAD hitters and their K% with at least 100 PA:

• Dalton Rushing – 37.4%
• Hyeseong Kim – 30.6%
• Kiké Hernández – 26.6%
• Shohei Ohtani – 25.7%
• Michael Conforto – 24.9%
• Teoscar Hernández – 24.5%
• Andy Pages – 21.6%
• Freddie Freeman – 20.4%
• Will Smith – 20.4%
• Tommy Edman – 16.2%
• Miguel Rojas – 14.5%
• Mookie Betts – 10.3%

That is 6 greater than the NL average and 6 below. For whatever that means.

As a team, the Dodgers were 16^th in number of strikeouts in the regular season of the 30 teams.  So while we may be laser focused on what the Dodgers are doing, they are in the middle of teams.  The Dodgers were 6^th out of 15 teams with the most strikeouts in the National League, and the only playoff team with more strikeouts was Cincinnati.  If the Mets held on to beat out Cincinnati at the end, no playoff team would have had more strikeouts than the Dodgers.

With all of the perceived strikeouts by LAD hitters, they were still #1 in Runs scored, HR, SLG, and OPS.  They were #3 in OBP and BA.  Striking out as much as they did, did not hurt their WS chances.  And when they got to the WS the Dodgers faced the team with the least number of strikeouts in MLB, Toronto, and beat them as well.

Would I prefer that the Dodgers take a better approach with 2 strikes?  Of course I would.  But I am not sure that there is a strong correlation between number of strikeouts and the teams’ ability to win.  But there is more of a correlation between HR and the teams’ ability to win.

I am not going to draw into that HR/Win correlation, but I am also not going to go against whatever their offensive philosophy was for the past two WS championships.  It is easy to look at statistics and blame players or philosophies in roster construction for reasons why a team loses, but it is hard to argue against success.

Another common complaint is that the Dodgers have to get younger.  I agree with Badger, the Dodger hitters do not need to get younger, they need to get better.  For the last three years, the Dodgers have lead all of MLB teams with the average age of batters.  It was 30.7 in 2025 and 30.3 in 2024.

I am not naïve.  I know there is a limit to how long MLB hitters can be effective.  Are the Dodgers approaching that age?  I guess we will see in October, but even at their advanced age, they are still favored to win it all.

Rushing and Kim figure to get a longer run this year, with regulars Andy Pages and Kyle Tucker both under 30.  Even considering those players, I am going out on a limb and saying that the average LAD hitter is above 30.  What may hurt the Dodgers is that those soft tissue injuries do not heal as quickly after 30 than they do in their 20’s.  How long will Max be out if he has another oblique strain?  Or Teoscar and another groin pull?  How many more seasons of MVP level production from Freddie and his ankle?  The Dodgers are blessed with enough depth to minimize those IL stint effects.