Dodgers: Starting Pitcher Grades for May

In May, the Dodgers’ starting pitchers continued to pitch well as a whole. The team ERA led MLB with a 2.94 ERA during the month. LA continued to fulfill the meaning of rotation as their staff sent seven pitchers out for at least three starts each.

Despite being investigated by Major League Baseball for their use of the 10-day disabled list, the Dodgers got successful starts for a majority of the month despite multiple pitchers being thrown off their usual routine.

While Alex Wood is the only regular starting pitcher to end the month of May on the disabled list, the Dodgers once again shuffled Hyun-Jin Ryu, Rich Hill, and Kenta Maeda on and off the DL. Here is a breakdown of each starting pitcher’s grade from last month.

Despite ending the month with a clunker against the Cubs, Kershaw was his typical Ace self, going 3-1 with a 2.43 ERA.  His worst start was the aforementioned start against the Cubs when he failed to go five innings and gave up 11 hits and four earned runs.

Kershaw’s best start in May came against the Cardinals when he went nine innings, allowing only three hits, one run, and striking out ten batters in the process. Had Kershaw not thrown a bouncing slider that was a borderline passed ball, he may have thrown a complete game shutout.

In four of Kershaw’s six May starts he allowed two runs or fewer. Five of his six starts, were quality starts and the slider seemed to be much more effective for Kershaw as the month rolled on.

Kershaw did have a couple starts where he battled himself, but the stats say otherwise since he is an elite pitcher. Despite his last start leaving a bad taste in the mouth of Dodger fans, Kershaw provided the Dodgers a quality start five out of six starts which earns him an A grade.

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.

While Julio Urias has a bright long career ahead of him, the month of May went downhill quickly for the kid. After making two solid starts to begin the month, Urias struggled mightily in his last two starts and was demoted to Triple-A.

Like many young pitchers, Urias seemed to lose confidence in himself which led to control issues. He walked ten batters in only four starts during May, and whenever a pitcher with this kid’s kind of stuff walks more hitters than he strikes out, that is not a good sign.

In his first two starts, Urias allowed a total of one run and five hits. Urias had one solid start at Triple-A after being demoted, so the hope is that he regains his confidence and comes back up soon.

Urias had the lowest ERA of any pitcher in baseball before his last two starts of May, so we all know the potential is there. Because of his terrible pitch control and those two ugly starts, however, Urias gets a D grade.

Rich Hill missed the first half of May with his well-known blister issue, and when he returned, he seemed to have a case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

From Hill’s three starts, he had two starts where he allowed only one run, sandwiching a start in which he gave up five runs against the Cardinals. Hill had a much more successful start in his last start of the month against the Cardinals where he allowed one run.

The one bad start against the Cardinals, Hill was being squeezed by the umpire but didn’t help himself as his pitches were all over the place and inconsistent.

The reason Hill gets a C+ is that he didn’t top five innings in any of his three starts. Five innings would be good for a start from Julio Urias, but for a start from the man presumed to be the Dodgers’ number two starter, they need at least six innings each time out. He didn’t top 90 pitches in any of his starts so he may have been eased back in since he has blister issues.

Other than Clayton Kershaw and maybe Alex Wood, the Dodgers’ most consistent starter may be Brandon McCarthy. McCarthy had one bad start to begin the month where one bad inning imploded and led to six earned runs against the Giants. He allowed one combined run in his other two May starts and pitched six innings in each of those wins.

Even in his bad start, Brandon McCarthy came within one out of going six innings.  With most of the Dodger starters only being five inning pitchers, McCarthy gives the club a big boost knowing he will most likely go at least six innings.

McCarthy really settled in at home in his last two starts of the month where he allowed five total hits and one earned run against the Marlins and Cubs.

In his last start against the Cubs, he had complete control of the once potent Cubs’ offense and held them scoreless for six innings. If he didn’t have to leave because of a possible knee ailment, then he might have gone seven strong innings at a minimum. Brandon McCarthy is starting to throw the ball well and as a result, earns a B grade for his May work.

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The month of May was quite the adventure for Hyun-Jin Ryu. In his first start of the month, he was rocked by the Rockies for ten runs, five of them earned, and six walks. After that, things began to look up, including the first relief appearance of Ryu’s career.

Against the Cardinals last week, Ryu piggybacked on Kenta Maeda’s start and pitched four masterful innings in relief to earn his first career save.

In his last two starts for May, Ryu allowed three combined runs and looked like his pre-injury self. He went six strong innings against the Cardinals yesterday, while only allowing one run. Things appeared to be trending up, as the month progressed, for Ryu.

Next: Bullpen Grades for May

In his final start, he hit 93 miles per hour on his fastball and had command of all his off-speed pitches. The Dodgers have a good problem if Ryu continues to pitch like his old self because they will not have enough rotation spots for a healthy group of Dodger starters. That, and you can never have too much good pitching. Despite the first start blowup, Ryu earns a B grade for May because he delivered two very solid starts and one four-inning save.