Dodgers: Grading the starting pitchers for June

Clayton Kershaw was his usual dominant self in June going 5-0 in six starts. It was his best month so far this season; recording season bests in ERA, strikeouts, and OBA.

He posted a 2.23 ERA while striking out 57 and allowing the opposition to hit just .167 off of him. His only real blemish this month was that he allowed seven home runs, four of which came in a start against the Mets in a single game.

It is a problem that has plagued Kershaw the whole season so far, as he has already allowed a career-high 17 home runs this year. But, he hasn’t allowed one over his last two starts, so that is something to build off of. The home runs allowed are the only thing that prevents me from giving him an A+.

Kershaw seemed much more emotional and aggressive this month. His strikeout rate went way up to 12.7 SO/9 in June compared to April and May when he averaged 9.25 SO/9. Perhaps he heard all the whispers about him no longer being the best pitcher in the baseball and let that anger fuel him. Whatever it is, Kershaw seems to be fully locked in now, halfway through the season.

If Cody Bellinger is the shock of the league amongst position players during the first half, Alex Wood is definitely the surprise of the league amongst pitchers. He was great again in June, although it was a shorter month for him in which he made four starts because he spent the first week on the DL.

In those four starts, he went 3-0 in 25.2 innings and remained virtually unhittable, posting a 2.10 ERA with a .157 OBA, 0.74 WHIP, and 27 strikeouts. He also had his longest outing of the season when he went eight deep against the Reds.

Wood has pitched 73.2 innings so far this season, which isn’t enough to qualify him for the leaderboards, but if he did, he would be leading the NL in ERA right now.

He still has a zero in the loss column this season while having nine wins. He should be in the All-Star for the first time in his career but got shockingly snubbed, like the other Dodgers.

This is probably in part due to him not being a big name. If Clayton Kershaw does not participate in the All-Star Game because of scheduling conflicts, hopefully, Wood would be the first to get the call as a replacement.

*written before his start against the Padres

Maeda had by far the best month of his season so far. After getting off to a terrible start in April, he has picked it up considerably since. He followed up a decent May with a great June, posting a 1.71 ERA in five games (three starts).

He had arguably the best start of his Dodger career in his last outing of the month, going seven scoreless innings in a win over the Angels on June 27. It was the first time in his MLB career he has gone at least seven innings without allowing a run.

Maeda had a lower OBA .162 and WHIP of 0.76 than even Kershaw this past month. It looked like Maeda was trusting his stuff again and feeling a lot more confident on the mound.

If Maeda continues this upward trend, he could return to good favor with Dave Roberts and regain his spot as a full-time starter in the rotation.

McCarthy had a decent month of June going 1-2 with an excellent 3.20 ERA in five starts. He continued to be a solid number three starter behind Kershaw and Wood. His ERA remains terrific, however, there are some other stats that might indicate he could be trending towards going into a slump soon.

In 25.1 innings this month he struck out only 16 while walking eight. A 2:1 strikeout to walk ratio isn’t great, and opponents also hit .270 against him this month, well above league average. In his last start against the Rockies, it seemed as if his case of the yips had returned.

Maybe the Dodgers saw him starting to struggle a bit and decided to put him on the DL as a precaution. McCarthy isn’t expected to be back until mid-July.

*written before his start against the Padres

Rich Hill had been struggling to find himself all season long. He still hasn’t quite gotten into a rhythm yet this due to injury. He went 2-2- this month with a 5.04 ERA in five starts. If it weren’t for one bad start against the Cleveland Indians in which he allowed seven ER over four innings, he would’ve had a decent month.

Hill’s biggest issue isn’t his stuff. He allowed only a .223 OBA while striking out 29 in 25 innings. His issue right now is his control. Hill walked 14 batters in those 25 innings. He did go at least seven innings for the first time this year which is a positive.

However, he still only averaged five innings per start, which isn’t good enough for a guy who was billed as the Dodgers’ number two starter going into this season. Because of his blister issue, Hill will probably never be a guy you could rely on to consistently go deep into ball games. But if Hill is only going to give you five innings, he needs to make sure those five innings are extremely productive, and he is not consistently doing that this year.

Ryu was inconsistent this month as he has been all season long. He was 1-1 in five starts with a 4.73 ERA. He allowed hitters to hit a very high .300 against him. Ryu did, however, have an excellent strikeout to walk ratio of 27:5.

Ryu does throw strikes and command his pitches well; he just no longer has the same stuff he had a few years ago before the injuries. He can’t throw it by anybody when he gets in trouble and has to rely on changing speeds and having pinpoint accuracy. At this point of his career, a 4.00+ ERA guy might just be who he is for the Dodgers.