Dodgers bucking a trend by striking out less while homering more in 2019

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers hit a franchise-record 235 home runs in 2018. A less publicized, less glamorous record was shattered in the process. Their 1,436 strikeouts outpaced the mark of 1,380 established the year before, which broke the record from 2016, which broke the record from 2015, which broke the record from 2014.
It wasn’t just the Dodgers. Strikeout rates have risen league-wide this decade. It’s a natural assumption – and mostly accurate – that hitters are