Dodgers: Starting Pitcher Grades for August

The Dodgers starting pitching has been the driving force for this team all year long. This was once again the case in August as the starters led the way. Let’s see how each starter did during August.

It’s the end of the month, so you know what that means. We will be giving the team grades. This month will be interesting. As the Dodgers were still great but not unbeatable like most months. August you will see a variety of grades, unlike months past where the majority of the players would get A’s.

The starting pitching this month was missing one key player. Clayton Kershaw was out for the entire month of August, but while Kershaw was out, others stepped up. Also, the month of August saw the debut of a certain right-handed phenom, Yu Darvish. He made his debut in August and has had a good sample size as a Dodger to grade.

This month was also the re-introduction of 2 starters into the rotation. Kenta Maeda and Hyun-Jin Ryu both lost their touch and were moved into the bullpen. But in August they were brought back into the rotation to compete for a playoff slot. This month was a significant step towards October so let us see how the starters performed.

Maeda made six starts in August which was the most among all Dodgers. Maeda began the month with an impressive start on the road in Atlanta. Kenta pitched seven innings of shutout baseball. Maeda gave up just two hits during that outing. Kenta struck out 6 and gave up only one walk. The right-hander started the month strong but ended on a sour note on Thursday afternoon against the D-Backs.

During August Maeda had a 4.45 ERA to go along with 0.93 WHIP. His WHIP does not match his ERA which is quite odd. This is because he is solid out of the windup, but when he moves to the stretch, he is not quite as effective. This season with no runners on base opponents have just a .211 batting average, but it jumps up to .280 with runners on base.

This month for Maeda was slightly below average. He was the player he has been for the majority of his short MLB career. Inconsistent, you never know what you are going to get with Kenta. His six starts can be split into two groups; great and ugly. He made six starts and gave up 16 earned runs. He gave up 14 of those 16 in 3 starts. He was either dominant or getting walloped.

Hill came into August as the reigning NL pitcher of the month. He won the award in July in which he was quietly dominant. However, he had a 4.71 ERA during August to go with 36 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings pitched. Hill, like Maeda, had one dominant outing where he threw an incredible game, but followed up that start was followed up by an outing to forget.

Hill made five starts during the month, and he gave up a home-run in every single one of those games. The long ball was a big problem for him this month. He gave up 7 in his five starts. With all the off-speed pitches he throws it is important for him to keep batters off-balance. Since he doesn’t have the velocity to blow hitters away, he relies on deception. When batters are ambushing him early in the count, he can be prone to giving up bombs.

Rich Hill pitched one of the greatest games of his career this month. He was able to take a no-hitter past the 9^th inning and had a perfect game going through 8 innings. He came in to pitch the 10^th and gave up his only hit which happened to be a home-run to Josh Harrison which cost Hill the no-no, shutout and the game. This once in a lifetime performance boosts his overall grade for the month which was otherwise below average.

August was the Darvish’s introduction to his new organization. He was acquired from the Rangers just before the trade deadline. He made his first start with the Dodgers on August 4tha against the Mets. He was masterful in his first start with the Dodgers. He recorded ten strikeouts in 7 shutout innings in New York. It was definitely a warm welcome to his new club.

The Los Angeles faithful were not disappointed with his first start and were just as impressed with his second start in his new uniform. Darvish did give up two runs but was able to work his way out of trouble quite often. He used his power pitches to strike his way out of any jam he got into. He once again got ten strike outs, but he was deadlier this time around because he did that in just five innings.

Darvish gave up three runs each in of his next two starts. But in his 3^rd start, he was pulled early with visual discomfort to his back. Yu showed the Dodgers how dominant he could be when he is on his game. The big right-hander is electric and can be beyond dominant on any given night. He is an imposing figure who has a plethora of tools at his disposal, which is why he can be so dominant any given night.

Ryu made five starts during August. He was solid for the majority of the month. Having four good outings but like the other two ended the month with a very bad outing in Arizona. He was 2-1 with a 3.33 ERA in 5 starts. Ryu had 21 strikeouts in 27 innings pitched.

The Korean southpaw looked poised to return to the starting rotation this month. He made just two starts in July, so when Ryu got these opportunities in August, he proved why he was the number 3 starter behind Greinke and Kershaw back when he was healthy.

He gave up just ten runs in 5 starts, but 6 of those came in his final start. In August he had two scoreless outings.  The first start he made in August came against the Mets. He gave the Dodgers 7 innings of shutout baseball, also gave up just one hit and had eight strikeouts.

August was kind to Ryu, as he was and still is vying for a spot on the post-season roster. He may be forcing Robert’s hand if he continues to pitch this way. Roberts will have second thoughts of starting Ryu in the playoffs if he keeps pitching lights out and Hill continues to struggle.

Wood was having a breakthrough year this season. There was even some early discussion of him competing for a Cy Young award. But in July he had his first bad month. He had a 4.01 ERA in July. But he bounced back during August. This month he had a 2.52 ERA bouncing back from his bad July and returning to the good form that he possessed this entire season.

He was the only starter to make it past six innings in every start that he made. What makes this month even more impressive is what Wood was working through. He was dealing with a decrease in his velocity due to some soreness, but he was still able to make do and pitch and a near elite level even without having his best stuff. Elite pitchers manage to put together a good performance without their A-stuff like Wood did this month.

Next: Barnes the Starter?

He was consistent in all of his starts.  He gave up seven runs in his four starts. But most of those runs came from solo home-runs which are something the Dodgers can live with. He was very good at not allowing opposing teams to manufacture runs. He would often get himself out of jams. The runs came off batters who preyed on his dip in velocity. Wood was great all month long.