Will Ohtani, who is the home run king for the third consecutive year, be the first in strikeouts in the second half of the year?

Aug 03, 2025

Will Ohtani, who is the home run king for the third consecutive year, be the first in strikeouts in the second half of the year?
LA Dodgers Shohei Ohtani is striking out swinging by opposing starter Drew Rasmussen in the top of the first inning in an away game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Steinbrenner Field on the 3rd (Korea time). AP Yonhap News



Will Ohtani, who is the home run king for the third consecutive year, be the first in strikeouts in the second half of the year?
Ohtani bites his lips and enters after striking out swinging in the last at-bat of the ninth inning. AP Yonhap News
Who struck out the most in the second half. As you might guess, it's Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Even if there are many strikeouts, there are too many.

Ohtani went 1 for 4 and struck out 3 in an away game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Stain Brenner Field in Tampa, Florida on the 3rd (Korea time). The Dodgers lost 0-4.

Ohtani, who was the second designated hitter, struck out from his first at-bat in the top of the first inning. Tampa Bay right-hander Drew Rasmussen fumbled his bat on a 96.5-mile fastball on the fourth pitch. Failed to timing Rasmussen's cutter-pitch-pitch ball mix.




He also struck out Rasmussen swinging after one out in the fourth inning when his team was trailing 0-3. This time, I was beaten by a fastball-a direct-ball-cutter-cutter. He hit two fouls alone and swung and missed on a cutter that was 89.9 miles low on his body in the fourth pitch.

In the sixth inning, when the team was 0-3, the first base with one out pulled the low sinker of the changed pitcher Garrett Clevinger's 95.6-mile first pitch and hit a clean hit flowing to the right at 105.4 miles to connect the chance to the first and second bases with one out.

The Dodgers then had a bases-loaded chance with Freddie Freeman's right-handed hit, but Teoscar Hernandez hit a double play by shortstop, which cut the pulse of the offense. At this time, it was impressive that Tampa Bay second baseman Kim Ha-sung stably caught shortstop Taylor Walls' high toss and quickly turned around to complete a double play.




Will Ohtani, who is the home run king for the third consecutive year, be the first in strikeouts in the second half of the year?
Otani hits a right-handed hit in the top of the sixth inning. AFP Yonhap News
Ohtani also struck out swinging in his last at-bat in the ninth inning, trailing 0-4. In the full count, Tampa Bay right-hander Pete Pierbanks' bat on a high slider in the middle of the sixth pitch of 86.7 miles cut through the air.

The number of strikeouts in 14 games in the second half was 26, the highest among all hitters. Then came the satellite nationals James Wood (25) and the San Francisco Giants Rafael Devers (22). He is tied for second in this category after Philadelphia Phillies Kyle Schwarber, who hit six home runs and hit seven in the second half, but also struck out more.

Ohtani has 135 strikeouts this season, ranking second in the NL after 141 Wood. Schwarber (131), who is famous for striking out well, as O'Neill Cruz (134) of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played his second and sixth four strikeouts this season against the Cincinnati Reds on the 30th of last month.




Ohtani's career-high strikeout season was 189 in 2021. This year, if he maintains his current pace, he will have 197 strikeouts. If you are in a batting condition in the second half of the year, you may have more than 200. In other words, contact and pioneering eyes have deteriorated significantly in the second half of the year. He has a batting average of 0.241 (14 hits in 58 at-bats) in the second half, and a strikeout rate of 40.0%.

The first 200 strikeouts in a season were recorded by Arizona Diamondbacks Mark Reynolds (204) in 2008, and since then, there have been 0 to 3 strikeouts every year. Until last year, 15 players had 200 strikeout seasons.

It is a trend these days to swing big and hit a home run even if you get struck out. Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees also struck out 208 when he hit 52 home runs in 2017, when he became the AL Rookie of the Year. Ohtani, who is aiming to become the home run king for the third consecutive year, recorded 44 home runs-143 strikeouts in 2023 and 54 home runs-162 strikeouts in 2024. As the number of home runs increases, there are also more strikeouts.

Will Ohtani, who is the home run king for the third consecutive year, be the first in strikeouts in the second half of the year?
오타니 쇼헤이. ImagesYonhap News
Meanwhile, Ohtani, who failed to meet his target of four innings in his recent appearance due to hip spasms, decided to start against the St. Louis Cardinals on the 7th as scheduled. Ahead of the game against Tampa Bay, manager Dave Roberts said, `We will see Otani throw four innings. There will be no problem and he will have seven days off. I want to see how he throws four innings. That's the plan."

Ohtani started the away game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on the 31st of last month, giving up five hits and allowing two runs in three innings. He took the mound with the goal of four innings, but was replaced after failing to catch any outcount due to the collapse of his control, including two wild pitches in the fourth inning. Right hip spasms were the cause. However, there was no abnormality as a result of the examination, so he decided to play against St. Louis on the 7th.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.