Dodgers: Starting Pitcher Grades for May

Alex Wood has arguably been better than every Dodger starting pitcher, even Clayton Kershaw. Like Kershaw, Alex Wood had a lone blemish in an otherwise brilliant month. His came in one start against the Giants when he allowed five runs, four of them being earned.

Unlike Kershaw, the bad start for Wood came in his first start of the month. Even in his worst start of May, Alex Wood still earned the win, and he won all five of his starts during the month.

Wood has seen an uptick in his velocity which is leading to more punch outs. In four of his five May starts, Wood struck out eight or more batters. He also allowed no earned runs in any of his last four starts for the month and will continue to work on a  25-1/3 scoreless innings streak whenever he comes off the disabled list.

The only issue with Alex Wood is that he needs to pitch deeper into games. In three of the five starts, he only went five innings. It wouldn’t be a bad thing if Wood saw a dip in his strikeout numbers in exchange for an increase in innings pitched.