Dodgers May review: .500 days of spring

The Dodgers collectively didn’t hit much at all in May, and saw four of their five opening day starting pitchers get injured. Their ace was hurt on the first day of the month and then returned on the last day of the month, only to get hurt again.

They were swept at home by the last-place Reds, and swept the now half-game-out-of-first place Nationals on the road. It was an odd month.

Despite all that the Dodgers slogged to a .500 mark in the month and somehow still managed to shave their division deficit in half, trailing by eight games at the start of the month but four back now.

Batter of May

Matt Kemp hit .361/.379/.557 with three home runs, and led the Dodgers in hits (35), doubles (10) and RBI (17). May was the third month of his career with double-digit two-baggers, along with August 2008 (12) and May 2017.

Honorable mention goes to Max Muncy, who slugged .551 and was second to Kemp with 15 RBI. Muncy tied for the team lead in home runs with Yasiel Puig, who overcame a punchless April to post a .970 OPS in May.

Pitcher of May

Attrition pressed Ross Stripling into the rotation, and he ably took the reins. Stripling had 40 strikeouts against only four walks in the month and posted a 1.20 ERA. The top four strikeout games of Stripling’s career were his last four starts.

Honorable mention goes to Walker Buehler, who was spectacular in his own right with a 2.32 ERA and 37 strikeouts with five walks; and to Kenley Jansen, who looked like Kenley Jansen again with one run allowed, 16 strikeouts and two walks, plus nine saves.

Record: 14-14
107 runs scored (3.82 per game)
93 runs allowed (3.32 per game)
.564 pythagorean winning percentage (16-12)

Record: 26-30
240 runs scored (4.29 per game)
217 runs allowed (3.88 per game)
.546 pythagorean winning percentage (31-25)

Game of the month

In the second game of a doubleheader on May 19 the Dodgers saw Rich Hill leave after two pitches, needing to get nine innings from the bullpen against Max Scherzer. To top it all the Dodgers trailed 4-2 late and scored one in the eighth to pull closer, then scored a pair in the ninth to secure an improbable doubleheader sweep.

Situational stats

Pinch hitting: Dodgers pinch hitters for in May were just 10-for-58, hitting .172/.262/.276.

Runners in scoring position: The Dodgers for the month were terrible with RISP, hitting just .187/.305/.258. They were middle of the pack in RISP opportunities, 15th in MLB in May with 259 plate appearances.

Bases loaded: After a productive April with the bags packed, in May the Dodgers were 2-for-16 (.125) with a double with the bases loaded, with four sacrifice flies.

May weeks in review: Apr. 30-May 6 | May 7-13 | May 14-20 | May 21-27

The month ahead

The Dodgers play 14 of their 26 games at home in June, including hosting the Rangers for two interleague games. LA plays the Cubs seven times in 11 days from June 18-28, including four games at Dodger Stadium.

Stats