Dodgers remain on record strikeout pace

For more photos from Friday, visit LA Photog Blog.

By Jon Weisman

Back in April – admittedly, when the season wasn’t even a month old – I couldn’t help but comment on the remarkable number of strikeouts that were piling up in Dodger games.

At the time, the Dodgers were far ahead of team-record strikeout paces both on offense and on the mound. Now that we’ve only got a month to go, and with the team striking out 15 times in their 3-2, 12-inning loss Friday, I thought I’d see where things stood.

Dodger hitting
1,190 strikeouts in 1996 (team record)
1,033 strikeouts to date in 2014 (135 games)
1,240 projected strikeouts in 2014
7.65 strikeouts per game in 2014
5.81 strikeouts per game needed to break record

Dodger pitching
1,292 strikeouts in 2013 (team record)
1,133 strikeouts to date in 2014 (135 games)
1,360 projected strikeouts in 2014
8.39 strikeouts per game in 2014
5.93 strikeouts per game needed to break record

So yeah, it’s practically a lock that those records are going to fall. Perhaps it’s just a symptom of the game’s evolution toward more and more strikeouts – even on its record pace, the Dodger offense is only fifth in the National League in whiffs. (Dodger pitchers rank first in the NL. )

However, it’s interesting that the strikeout record on offense is nearly 20 years old. The ’96 Dodgers had six players with at least 90 strikeouts, including 121 from Eric Karros, 122 from Raul Mondesi and 124 from … Delino DeShields.

Here’s the 2014 Dodgers’ record in big strikeout games on offense:

K W-L
16 1-1
15 0-1
14 1-1
13 0-1
12 1-4
11 7-6
10 5-3
9 7-5
9+ 22-22