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Dodgers May review: Alex Wood looked like Clayton Kershaw

By Ryan Walton
Miami Marlins v Los Angeles Dodgers Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images

The Dodgers were the hottest team in the National League in the month of May, second in the major leagues behind the Astros. After gathering some momentum winning the final four games of April, Los Angeles went on to win 19 of its 28 games in May.

Batter of May

Chris Taylor took full advantage of injuries that allowed him key playing time by hitting the ball all over the yard. The utility man hit .322/.430/.511 with four homers and 14 RBIs in 23 games. Taylor walked 17 times and was the Dodgers most consistent hitter.

Besides playing the infield, the injuries also forced the Dodgers to use Taylor in centerfield. The 26-year-old made himself comfortable in center by making a couple nice catches.

Pitcher of May

Alex Wood hasn’t given up a run since May 2 and has become what manager Dave Roberts has called a “1A” ace to go with Clayton Kershaw. Wood certainly had a Kershaw-like month of May, going 5-0 with a 1.27 ERA while striking out 41 of the 112 batters he faced and walking only seven.

The bullpen was fantastic and deserves a mention as well, especially over the final nine days. The group allowed only three runs — all on solo homers — over the final 35.2 innings of the month, including a 24.2-inning scoreless streak.

Josh Fields has become quite a strength for the Dodgers, allowing only one run in 14.1 innings over 12 appearances. Kenley Jansen was his usual self with 18 strikeouts and no walks.

May performance

NL West standings

Team W L PCT GB Runs Scored Runs Allowed
Team W L PCT GB Runs Scored Runs Allowed
Dodgers 19 9 0.679 --- 159 93
Diamondbacks 17 11 0.607 2 129 104
Rockies 17 12 0.586 2.5 157 118
Giants 13 16 0.448 6.5 96 133
Padres 11 17 0.393 8 88 143

Record: 19-9

159 runs scored (5.68 per game)

93 runs allowed (3.32 per game)

Game of the month

There were a few games worthy of this honor but one stands out above them all for a simple reason. The Dodgers have been looking up at the Rockies in the standings all year long, mostly because Colorado had refused to cooperate by losing.

Down three runs after the first inning on May 30 to the Cardinals, the Dodgers came storming back and eventually won by the score of 9-4. Besides another comeback win, it would be the first time the Dodgers sat in first place all by themselves after a Colorado loss placed them a half game ahead.

Miscellany

Cody Bellinger put on a powerful display over the month with nine homers and 27 RBIs. The Dodger rookie probably would’ve had top batter honors in May except that he faded over the last week and ended up at .245/.314/.566 with 40 strikeouts.

Situational stats

Pinch hitting: Dodgers pinch hitters were 15-for-39 with one home run and five doubles in May, hitting .385/.478/.590.

Runners in scoring position: The Dodgers hit .348/.413/.589 with RISP for May.

Bases loaded: The team was 9-for-23 for the month, including grand slams by Bellinger and Taylor. The club hit .391/.448/.826 with the bases loaded in May.

The month ahead

The Dodgers will play 28 games in 30 days for June. That includes 15 home games, 13 road games and only four games against the NL West. The Dodgers and Angels will play their four-game series (two at home, two on road) June 26-29.

A look back

May weeks in review: May 8 | May 15 | May 22 | May 29

Stats

May batting

Player AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB BAbip
Player AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB BAbip
Cody Bellinger 106 22 26 5 1 9 27 1 0 11 40 0.245 0.314 0.566 0.880 60 1 0 0 1 0 0.293
Corey Seager 98 21 25 7 0 2 7 0 0 17 24 0.255 0.371 0.388 0.758 38 3 1 0 0 1 0.319
Chris Taylor 90 20 29 5 0 4 14 1 1 17 28 0.322 0.430 0.511 0.941 46 1 0 0 0 0 0.431
Yasiel Puig 90 16 20 2 0 4 16 4 0 6 23 0.222 0.268 0.378 0.646 34 3 0 0 1 0 0.250
Yasmani Grandal 86 9 29 10 0 2 16 0 0 5 20 0.337 0.374 0.523 0.897 45 4 0 0 0 0 0.422
Chase Utley 70 9 22 3 3 3 14 3 1 8 13 0.314 0.402 0.571 0.974 40 1 3 1 1 0 0.345
Enrique Hernandez 59 15 16 9 0 2 11 1 0 8 14 0.271 0.353 0.525 0.878 31 0 0 1 1 0 0.318
Joc Pederson 55 9 10 3 0 1 4 0 1 6 15 0.182 0.297 0.291 0.588 16 3 3 0 0 0 0.231
Justin Turner 51 9 17 2 0 0 5 1 0 8 11 0.333 0.435 0.373 0.808 19 2 2 1 1 0 0.415
Adrian Gonzalez 52 2 14 4 0 1 10 0 0 1 12 0.269 0.273 0.404 0.677 21 5 0 0 2 0 0.317
Austin Barnes 29 7 9 5 0 1 6 1 0 7 4 0.310 0.444 0.586 1.031 17 2 0 0 0 0 0.333
Logan Forsythe 25 2 4 1 0 1 3 1 0 7 8 0.160 0.344 0.320 0.664 8 1 0 0 0 0 0.188
Franklin Gutierrez 22 4 6 1 0 1 4 0 0 4 6 0.273 0.385 0.455 0.839 10 1 0 0 0 0 0.333
Andrew Toles 25 5 9 2 0 0 2 0 1 1 4 0.360 0.385 0.440 0.825 11 0 0 0 0 0 0.429
Brett Eibner 18 3 4 0 0 2 6 0 0 1 9 0.222 0.300 0.556 0.856 10 0 1 0 0 0 0.286
Clayton Kershaw 14 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 0.214 0.267 0.214 0.481 3 1 0 1 0 0 0.300
Alex Wood 10 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 7 0.100 0.100 0.100 0.200 1 0 0 1 0 0 0.333
Scott Van Slyke 10 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 3 0.100 0.182 0.400 0.582 4 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Kenta Maeda 9 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0.222 0.222 0.222 0.444 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.222
Brandon McCarthy 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0.000 0.200 0.000 0.200 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.000
Hyun-Jin Ryu 5 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.200 0.333 0.400 0.733 2 0 1 0 0 0 0.500
Rich Hill 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.000
Julio Urias 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0.200 0.200 0.200 0.400 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
Ross Stripling 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Kenley Jansen 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.500 0.500 0.500 1.000 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.500
Luis Avilan 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Pedro Baez 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

May pitching

Player G IP W L W-L% ERA GS GF CG SHO SV H R ER HR BB IBB ROE SO HBP BK WP BF WHIP SO9 SO/W PA AB R H 2B 3B HR SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB ROE BAbip
Player G IP W L W-L% ERA GS GF CG SHO SV H R ER HR BB IBB ROE SO HBP BK WP BF WHIP SO9 SO/W PA AB R H 2B 3B HR SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB ROE BAbip
Clayton Kershaw 6 40.2 3 1 0.750 2.43 6 0 0 0 0 37 12 11 6 7 0 3 39 0 0 1 160 1.082 8.6 5.57 160 151 12 37 3 1 6 0 1 7 39 0.245 0.278 0.397 0.676 60 5 0 2 0 0 3 0.292
Alex Wood 5 28.1 5 0 1.000 1.27 5 0 0 0 0 22 5 4 0 7 0 2 41 2 0 0 112 1.024 13.0 5.86 112 103 5 22 2 0 0 1 1 7 41 0.214 0.277 0.233 0.510 24 4 2 0 0 0 2 0.355
Kenta Maeda 4 22.1 2 0 1.000 3.63 4 0 0 0 0 19 10 9 1 8 1 1 19 1 0 2 93 1.209 7.7 2.38 93 81 10 19 4 0 1 0 0 8 19 0.235 0.308 0.321 0.629 26 2 1 2 1 1 1 0.290
Hyun-Jin Ryu 4 19.1 1 1 0.500 3.72 3 1 0 0 1 20 13 8 2 9 2 1 13 2 1 0 87 1.500 6.1 1.44 87 76 13 20 8 0 2 1 0 9 13 0.263 0.356 0.447 0.804 34 2 2 0 0 2 1 0.295
Julio Urias 4 17.2 0 2 0.000 6.62 4 0 0 0 0 19 14 13 1 10 0 2 7 1 1 1 79 1.642 3.6 0.70 79 66 14 19 5 1 1 1 2 10 7 0.288 0.390 0.439 0.829 29 4 1 2 0 0 2 0.310
Brandon McCarthy 3 17.2 2 1 0.667 3.57 3 0 0 0 0 13 7 7 0 3 0 1 16 1 0 0 70 0.906 8.2 5.33 70 64 7 13 3 0 0 2 0 3 16 0.203 0.246 0.250 0.496 16 0 1 1 1 0 1 0.265
Ross Stripling 8 16.1 0 1 0.000 1.65 0 2 0 0 1 11 3 3 1 3 1 1 19 0 0 1 60 0.857 10.5 6.33 60 56 3 11 2 0 1 0 0 3 19 0.196 0.233 0.286 0.519 16 4 0 0 1 1 1 0.270
Josh Fields 12 14.1 2 0 1.000 0.63 0 4 0 0 1 8 1 1 1 3 0 0 14 0 0 0 52 0.767 8.8 4.67 52 49 1 8 1 0 1 0 1 3 14 0.163 0.212 0.245 0.456 12 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.206
Chris Hatcher 11 14.1 0 0 0.000 3.14 0 7 0 0 0 16 5 5 3 1 0 0 17 0 0 0 58 1.186 10.7 17.00 58 56 5 16 3 0 3 0 0 1 17 0.286 0.293 0.500 0.793 28 1 0 0 1 0 0 0.351
Rich Hill 3 14.0 1 1 0.500 4.50 3 0 0 0 0 12 7 7 1 9 0 0 14 2 1 0 61 1.500 9.0 1.56 61 48 7 12 0 0 1 3 1 9 14 0.250 0.383 0.313 0.696 15 2 2 1 1 0 0 0.324
Pedro Baez 14 13.1 0 0 0.000 1.35 0 0 0 0 0 9 2 2 1 5 1 0 12 0 0 0 53 1.050 8.1 2.40 53 48 2 9 2 0 1 1 1 5 12 0.188 0.264 0.292 0.556 14 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.229
Kenley Jansen 10 10.1 1 0 1.000 0.87 0 7 0 0 1 5 2 1 1 0 0 1 18 0 0 1 36 0.484 15.7 18.00 36 36 2 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 18 0.139 0.139 0.222 0.361 8 1 0 0 0 0 1 0.235
Sergio Romo 11 9.2 1 0 1.000 3.72 0 2 0 0 0 6 4 4 3 1 0 1 11 0 0 0 36 0.724 10.2 11.00 36 35 4 6 2 0 3 0 0 1 11 0.171 0.194 0.486 0.680 17 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.143
Luis Avilan 10 6.2 0 1 0.000 4.05 0 0 0 0 0 8 3 3 0 4 0 0 12 0 0 1 30 1.800 16.2 3.00 30 26 3 8 1 0 0 0 2 4 12 0.308 0.400 0.346 0.746 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.571
Grant Dayton 5 4.0 0 1 0.000 11.25 0 3 0 0 0 5 5 5 1 3 0 0 3 0 0 0 20 2.000 6.8 1.00 20 15 5 5 2 0 1 0 0 3 3 0.333 0.421 0.667 1.088 10 0 0 1 1 0 0 0.333
Adam Liberatore 3 3.0 0 0 0.000 0.00 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 0 0 0 12 1.000 15.0 5.00 12 11 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 0.182 0.250 0.182 0.432 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.333
Brandon Morrow 2 2 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6 0 4.5 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

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