Strikeouts! I hate them. Always have and always will. They kill so many rallies and are nothing but empty at bats. Why do the hitters today strike out at such a high rate? I mean even Babe Ruth never struck out in a season more than 93 times in any season. In fact, the Bambino struck out 90 time or more just twice. The year he struck out 93 times, he batted .393! He walked 170 times that year. He led the league in runs, HR, RBIs, walks, Ks, OBP, Slg, OPS, and OPS+. Harry Heilmann won the batting title with a .403 average. Ol Harry struck out just 40 times that year. 
Duke Snider struck out over 100 times just twice. But in today’s game, guys reach that before the All-Star break. Joe DiMaggio struck out 369 times in his 13-year career, and never more than 39 times in any one season. Shohei Ohtani is averaging 32 strikeouts a month! His career high of 189 in 2021 would be almost exactly half as many as Jolting Joe had in his entire career. To me, and I am sure several others here, this shows a flawed philosophy to hitting. Dodger hitting coach, Robert Von Scoyoc pictured above.
Myself, and Badger, I know for sure, when we were being taught the game, making contact was the main thing. Striking out, wasting at bats, was not smiled upon. Chris Taylor had some seminal moments as a Dodger, including hitting 3 homers in the 21 LCS against Atlanta to help the Dodgers stave off elimination, if only for one more day. But, for a guy with his skill set, he struck out way too much. .250 hitters should be more concerned with contact than power. In 2018, Taylor hit .254, he had 17 homers, and he was very good defensively. But he struck out 178 times and led the NL in that stat. Unacceptable.
If I have a gripe with the batting coaches the Dodgers have, it is that lift the ball philosophy that drives me nuts. There is a reason that the Dodgers have not had a batting champion since Tommy Davis won two in a row in 62-63. Trea Turner’s 2021 title does not count since he split the year playing in DC for most of his games. This year, averages across the league are down. As of today, the only player in the National League batting .300 or better is Freddie Freeman at .302. Turner is at .298. Judge leads the majors with a .321 mark. Five other AL players are over .300.
Amazingly, to me at least, Ohtani does not lead the majors in strikeouts. That dubious distinction belongs to James Wood of the Nationals who has 177 Ks. Riley Greene of the Tigers is second with 168. Cal Raliegh of the Mariners who leads the majors with 50 bombs, has exactly the same number of Ks as Ohtani, 156. The Dodgers as a team have struck out 1122 times, with 5 players having 100 or more. They have less than half that total in walks, 490. 
Now are there players who have revived or made their career with RVS’s philosophy? Yes. One of the first was JD Martinez in 2013. He helped JD revamp his swing while he was about to sign as a free agent with the Tigers after three mediocre seasons with the Astros. It totally turned his career around. Von Scoyoc was just a hitting consultant to the Dodgers in 2016-17. But his advise to Justin Turner helped him hit a career high 27 homers that year. He also changed Chris Taylor’s hitting approach and Taylor would have a career year in 2017, hitting 21 homers, and batting .288. The huge difference in the two? Taylor still struck out a ton, 148 times that season. Turner struck out just 107 times in 2016 and has only exceeded 100 twice in his career. It definitely helped Turner in his career, but Taylor, other than that 2017 season, has never approached that level of play since. 
I have seen many fans call for the removal of RVS as the batting coach. Well, if you are going to do that, you may as well ask for them to fire Aaron Bates, photo above, who is the other hitting mentor. Then the question becomes, who is the new guy, or guys. I pulled up the list of coaches for each MLB team on baseball reference. I wanted to see how many of these guys I recognize as guys who played at the major league level.
Most of the teams also employ, as the Dodgers do, assistant hitting coaches. Some teams have at least two of those. 13 teams have former MLB players as their hitting coach. Less than half. Used to be that former stars were the batting coaches. LA had Reggie Smith as their hitting coach for years. Chili Davis did it as has Barry Bonds, Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio. The old way of doing things has definitely gone by the wayside. There are no legitimate batting stars who are coaching hitting in the majors, and the strikeout levels just keep on climbing. Maybe someday, contact hitters like Carew and Gwynn will be in vogue again. Right now, it seems like it is just let r rip and hope for the best.
MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS
OKC Comets 7 – Memphis Redbirds (St. Louis) 5
Luken Baker connected on a two-run single with two outs in the eighth inning to give the Oklahoma City Comets the lead on the way to a 7-5 win against the Memphis Redbirds.
You wanted Luken Baker you got em’! 😤
— Oklahoma City Comets (@OKC_comets) August 30, 2025
Baker gives the Comets the lead with this 2-out 2-RBI single in the eighth! pic.twitter.com/pGkspjWdNP
Memphis built a 2-0 lead in the back-and-forth game, scoring a run on a bases-loaded walk in the first inning and another on a RBI single by Blaze Jordan in the fifth inning.
After picking up their first hit of the night in the fifth inning, the Comets erupted for five runs in sixth inning. Austin Gauthier tied the score at 2-2 on a two-run triple. The go-ahead run scored for OKC when José Ramos reached on a fielding error for a 3-2 lead. Chuckie Robinson added a RBI single before Hyeseong Kim lined a RBI triple into left field for a 5-2 Comets lead.
The Redbirds responded with three runs in their next at-bat to knot the score at 5-5. The Comets drew two walks to open the bottom of the eighth inning and later with two outs, Ryan Ward was intentionally walked to load the bases for Baker who connected on the eventual game-winning hit for OKC.
Hyeseong Kim went 2-for-4 with a triple, walk, RBI and run scored as he continued his Major League Rehab Assignment with the Comets. Through eight games of his rehab assignment, Kim is 9-for-30 (.300) and picked up his first extra-base hit Friday.
Austin Gauthier extended his hitting streak to a season-best eight games, hitting a triple, scoring a run and finishing with two RBI. During his hitting streak, Gauthier is 13-for-27 (.481) with nine RBI.
The ⚡️ we needed!
— Oklahoma City Comets (@OKC_comets) August 30, 2025
Austin Gauthier ties it with this 2-RBI triple to the wall! pic.twitter.com/nSz56AVae9
Luken Baker picked up two RBI and two walks, going 1-for-3 with a run. He has hit safely in seven consecutive games (7×26) and in 14 of his first 15 games with the Comets (20×58).
Ryan Ward reached base three times with three walks and scored a run.
OKC was limited to five hits for their lowest hit total since Aug. 1 against Salt Lake in Oklahoma City. Two of the Comets’ hits Friday were triples that both came in the fifth inning. Comets batters struck out 16 times in the game to tie OKC’s season-high mark in a nine-inning game from April 27 in Salt Lake.
2️⃣ triples in 1️⃣ inning?!?! 🤯
— Oklahoma City Comets (@OKC_comets) August 30, 2025
Hyeseong Kim tacks on Comets run No. 5️⃣ in the inning! pic.twitter.com/HNS28KGHBP
Comets pitchers issued 14 walks in the game to set a club game record during the team’s Bricktown era. Friday was the fourth time this season the Comets issued 11 or more walks in a game and was the seventh time issuing 10 or more walks.
OKC batters struck out 16 times and OKC pitchers issued 14 walks, and they still won.
Tulsa Drillers 4 – Corpus Christi Hooks (Houston) 1
The Tulsa Drillers continued their postseason pursuit by earning their third win this week over the Corpus Christi Hooks. Leading the Drillers offensively on Friday night were Sean McLain and Chris Newell, as the duo combined to drive in all four of Tulsa’s runs in the game.
Starting pitcher Jackson Ferris also played a significant role in the win as he allowed only one run over 6.2 innings in what was a 4-1 victory for the Drillers.
Jackson Ferris had an interesting outing!
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) August 30, 2025
6.2IP | 2H | 1R | 8 Ks | 6BB
Just 1 run is great, the 6 walks aren't, but as hot as he's been lately, part of that has been working around "not perfect" sequences, which he did tonight.
Ferris lowered his ERA to 3.89, which is… pic.twitter.com/oT04nmLbiX
The result was crucial as it maintained the Drillers two-game lead over Wichita, who also won on Friday, for the final playoff spot from the Texas League’s North Division with only 14 games remaining in the regular season.
After two scoreless innings, the Drillers used two swings of the bat to take the lead in the bottom of the third. McLain began the inning by hitting a solo home run (4) to left field. With two outs, Newell added a two-run homer (19) to right field that put Tulsa up 3-0.
McLain drove in the Drillers fourth run in the sixth inning when his single to right field plated Kole Myers from second base.
Ferris, the Los Angeles Dodgers top pitching prospect, made his 22nd start of the season in the game, and the lefthander cruised through the first six innings before running into trouble in the seventh. He held the Hooks to one hit and kept them off the scoreboard through the first six frames until a double, a stolen base and a walk set up Will Bush’s RBI groundout in the top of the seventh to give Corpus Christi its only run.
The Drillers went with another lefty after Ferris’ departure. Jorge Benitez took the mound and closed out the game by recording the final seven outs for his first save of the season. Benitez permitted only one base runner and that came when he hit a batter in the ninth.
Griffin Lockwood-Powell singled in the second inning and has now hit safely in eight straight games.
Kyle Nevin, Sean McLain, and Kole Myers each had two hits.
Great Lakes Loons 8 – West Michigan Whitecaps (Detroit) 1
Great Lakes Loons pitching dominated the night with 16 strikeouts of West Michigan Whitecaps batters, in an 8-1 Loons win.
Adam Serwinowski had a career outing, striking out 12 Whitecaps batters. The left-hander, after allowing two hits, struck out two to close the first inning. He had five multiple-strikeout innings, including the side in the seventh. The 21-year-old became the sixth Loons pitcher ever with a 12-strikeout game.
Adam Serwinowski…AGAIN!
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) August 30, 2025
Tonight's final line
7IP | 4H | 1R | 12Ks | 0BB
Season highs with 7 innings and 12 Ks, and he tied a record that can never be broken with 0 walks.
Serwinowski has a 1.64 ERA since he joined the Dodgers at the beginning of August, and his average… pic.twitter.com/UszztcC5yM
Jake Gelof had a three-RBI game, bringing him to 29 in the month. Gelof connected on his seventh home run of the month, a two-run shot in the fourth. A 341-foot shot to left made it 3-1 in the fourth. The 23-year-old doubled home a run in the second inning to start the scoring.
Jake Gelof launches it deep to retake the lead 💣 pic.twitter.com/WWnYRxQF6N
— Great Lakes Loons (@greatlakesloons) August 30, 2025
Logan Wagner reached three times, providing an RBI single in the fifth. Wagner earned the hit against rehabber Dylan Smith.
Great Lakes tallied four runs in the final two innings. Eduardo Quintero had an RBI sac fly in the seventh. Frank Rodriguez and Josue De Paula each had RBI hits in the eighth.
Loons’ relievers Ryan Brown and Joseilyn Gonzalez combined for four strikeouts.
Kendall George had 3 steals in the game, and now has 89 on the season.
With a Lake County loss tonight, Great Lakes is now a half-game back of a playoff spot with eight remaining.
- Jake Gelof – 2-3, 1 BB, 1 run, 3 RBI, double (22), HR (13)
- Logan Wagner – 2-4, 1 BB, 2 runs, 1 RBI, double (22)
- Josue De Paula – 1-3, 2 BB, 1 run, 1 RBI, SB (29)
Lake Elsinore Storm (San Diego) 6 – Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 5
The Quakes weren’t able to hold a lead on Friday night, as the Storm rallied on three different occasions, scoring a 6-5 victory.
Two unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh put Lake Elsinore ahead to stay, as they capitalized on five Rancho errors on Friday night, earning their second straight win over the Quakes and third in four games of the series.
Emil Morales had two hits and drove in a team-high three, as he helped the Quakes take three separate leads on Friday night.
A Landyn Vidourek RBI single in the 7th gave Rancho a 5-4 advantage.
That lead was short-lived, as the Storm took advantage of two walks from Will Maynard (0-2) and two of Rancho’s five errors in the seventh, taking the lead for good at 6-5.
2023 3rd round draft pick, Brady Smith, pitched arguably his best game of the year. Smith did not pitch professionally until this year. He has had a stellar August. In 3 starts, Smith has pitched 8.0 innings, 2 runs (1 earned), 1 hit, 7 BB, 10 K.
- Mairo Martinus – 2-5, 1 run, 1 RBI, double (15)
- Emil Morales – 2-3, 2 BB, 3 RBI, double (9)
- Ching-Hsien Ko – double (2)
A couple of congratulations to former LAD players who reached 10-year service in August 2025.
Disappointing loss with the offense not doing anything.
I agree on the strikouts, Bear. This game the latest example.
Emil Morales ! Is this kid the real deal? At only 18 years old he is dominating at RC .
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well crap. Another clunker. Shutout by a pitcher with an ERA over 5. A two run homer by a guy hitting .234 was all they needed. Arizona with 14 strike outs, but the Dodgers with only 10. Yay!
Yes, I too dislike watching the team flail away with two strikes, often chasing. It’s true with an umpire like Phil Cuzzi one must swing at anything close but these guys often chase pitches they couldn’t hit with a 40” bat. (I read somewhere that Ruth swung a 36” 54 oz hickory bat. Imagine swinging that against a 100 mph fastball)
Will the Dodgers move from their hitting philosophies? I doubt it. But I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the struggling hitters seek help privately.