Succesful May bullpen is in the books
Overall Record 33 wins / 21 losses
May Record – 19 wins / 9 losses
Position – 1st place / half a game in front of the both the Rockies and Diamondbacks
Dodgers led the NL in pitching fWAR with 5.5, closest team was 4.0.
Dodger led the NL in starting pitching fWAR with 3.7 barely beating out the Diamondbacks at 3.4
Dodgers crushed the NL in relief pitching fWAR with 1.7.
May Pitching stats for 2017:
Player IP W ERA GS H HR BB SO WHIP SO9 SO/W OPS Clayton Kershaw 40.2 3 2.43 6 37 6 7 39 1.082 8.6 5.57 .676 Alex Wood 28.1 5 1.27 5 22 0 7 41 1.024 13.0 5.86 .510 Kenta Maeda 22.1 2 3.63 4 19 1 8 19 1.209 7.7 2.38 .629 Hyun-Jin Ryu 19.1 1 3.72 3 20 2 9 13 1.500 6.1 1.44 .804 Brandon McCarthy 17.2 2 3.57 3 13 0 3 16 0.906 8.2 5.33 .496 Julio Urias 17.2 0 6.62 4 19 1 10 7 1.642 3.6 0.70 .829 Ross Stripling 16.1 0 1.65 0 11 1 3 19 0.857 10.5 6.33 .519 Josh Fields 14.1 2 0.63 0 8 1 3 14 0.767 8.8 4.67 .456 Chris Hatcher 14.1 0 3.14 0 16 3 1 17 1.186 10.7 17.00 .793 Rich Hill 14.0 1 4.50 3 12 1 9 14 1.500 9.0 1.56 .696 Pedro Baez 13.1 0 1.35 0 9 1 5 12 1.050 8.1 2.40 .556 Kenley Jansen 10.1 1 0.87 0 5 1 0 18 0.484 15.7 .361 Sergio Romo 9.2 1 3.72 0 6 3 1 11 0.724 10.2 11.00 .680 Luis Avilan 6.2 0 4.05 0 8 0 4 12 1.800 16.2 3.00 .746 Grant Dayton 4.0 0 11.25 0 5 1 3 3 2.000 6.8 1.00 1.088 Adam Liberatore 3.0 0 0.00 0 2 0 1 5 1.000 15.0 5.00 .432 Brandon Morrow 2.0 1 0.00 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 4.5 .000
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Generated 6/1/2017.
Standout Pitching:
- Alex Wood was unbeatable in May going 5 – 0 and outpitching Clayton Kershaw which hasn’t happened very often over a month in the last nine years.
- Brandon McCarthy had a WHIP below 1.00 and an OPS against below .500. Impressive
- Jansen only pitched ten innings but struck out eighteen with zero walks
- The setup men, Fields, Baez, Stripling were simply outstanding
Pitching Notes:
- For a pitcher destined for long relief, Ryu finished the Month on fire
- Urias had a bad month. He not only pitched horrible, the one game he was great, he ended the season for Toles.
- Romo ended the month on a high note
- Chris Hatcher had more brilliant moments than bad.
- Rich Hill still has a lot to prove but at least he ended the month by getting fifteen outs in one game.
- Only seven pitchers started a game in May. In 2016 only seven pitchers made starts in May but the names were Bolsinger/Kazmir/Stripling along with the first major league start by Urias.
Even though the bullpen lost the last game of the month, no one can complain about the work the bullpen did in May. If you had asked everyone what they felt the team needed when May started I think most would have said another great bullpen arm. With May in the books I’m not sure that is the case. Provided they don’t send Fields back to AAA again.
Successful offensive May is in the books
Overall Record 33 wins / 21 losses
May Record – 19 wins / 9 losses
Position – 1st place / half a game in front of the both the Rockies and Diamondbacks
Dodgers led the NL in runs scored in May with 159, averaging 5.67 runs per game. That was forty-seven more runs scored in April, with only two additional games.
May Hitting stats for 2017:
Player OPS PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG Austin Barnes 1.031 36 7 9 5 0 1 6 7 4 .310 .444 .586 Chase Utley .974 83 9 22 3 3 3 14 8 13 .314 .402 .571 Chris Taylor .941 107 20 29 5 0 4 14 17 28 .322 .430 .511 Yasmani Grandal .897 91 9 29 10 0 2 16 5 20 .337 .374 .523 Cody Bellinger .880 118 22 26 5 1 9 27 11 40 .245 .314 .566 Enrique Hernandez .878 69 15 16 9 0 2 11 8 14 .271 .353 .525 Brett Eibner .856 20 3 4 0 0 2 6 1 9 .222 .300 .556 Franklin Gutierrez .839 26 4 6 1 0 1 4 4 6 .273 .385 .455 Andrew Toles .825 26 5 9 2 0 0 2 1 4 .360 .385 .440 Justin Turner .808 63 9 17 2 0 0 5 8 11 .333 .435 .373 Corey Seager .758 116 21 25 7 0 2 7 17 24 .255 .371 .388 Adrian Gonzalez .677 55 2 14 4 0 1 10 1 12 .269 .273 .404 Logan Forsythe .664 32 2 4 1 0 1 3 7 8 .160 .344 .320 Yasiel Puig .646 97 16 20 2 0 4 16 6 23 .222 .268 .378 Joc Pederson .588 64 9 10 3 0 1 4 6 15 .182 .297 .291 Scott Van Slyke .582 11 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 3 .100 .182 .400
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Generated 6/1/2017.
Hitting standouts:
- Chase Utley with 3 doubles/ 3 triples / 3 home runs
- Seven players with a slug% over .500
- Every bench player except SVS had an OPS over .800
- Kiké with nine doubles in only 69 plate appearances
- Cody Bellinger led offense in runs scored, homer runs, RBI, and strikeouts
- Chris Taylor tied for team lead in hits and led team with most walks
- Grandal tied for team lead in hits and led the team in doubles with ten.
Hitting Notes:
- Grandal only walked five times preferring to swing the bat in May
- The Dodgers had an exceptional offense in May with their best hitter Cory Seager merely being ordinary.
- Puig only hit four home runs but that was good enough for second on the team for the month.
- Adrian Gonzalez walked one time in fifty-five plate appearances. I suspect this was his lowest OBP of his career for a month.
Hitters who might qualify for historic LAD May Leaderboards:
- Bellinger with his nine home runs
- Bellinger with his twenty-seven RBI
- Grandal / Taylor with twenty-nine hits
- Grandal with ten doubles
We will find out later today as I work my way through this May.
Geezer May triple leaderboard
Only twelve players since 1913 who were 38 or older have ever hit three triples in May. It is quite a list.
Player Split Year 3B PA Ty Cobb May 1925 8 147 Sam Rice May 1928 6 128 Jake Daubert May 1922 5 140 Sam Rice May 1930 4 130 Steve Finley May 2006 4 120 Omar Vizquel May 2006 4 118 Jake Daubert May 1923 3 114 Tris Speaker May 1926 3 127 Babe Ruth May 1934 3 109 Bob Johnson May 1945 3 101 Raul Ibanez May 2010 3 105 Chase Utley May 2017 3 79
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Generated 5/31/2017.
Ty Cobb hit eight triples in May of 1925 at the age of 38.
Strangely enough, four players have done it in the 21st century though the last time it was done in the 20th century was 1945.
Babe Ruth is on this list. How about that?
The Silver Fox eludes the bloodhounds of time
Logan Forsythe the starting 2nd baseman had gotten hurt on April 23rd and was a month away. It was now up to the 38-year-old second baseman to find out if he had anything left. Things didn’t look promising, Chase looked done but maybe he could find a rhythm with steady at-bats.
Chase got some regular at-bats but did nothing with them. On May 3rd you could be excused if you felt that Chase Utley had run out of time as a productive major league ballplayer. He was after all only 5 for 48 with one double. Even more telling he had just taken three called 3rd strikes against the Giants in one game. The bloodhounds of time were hot on his tail and he had been treed, the only thing left was for time to shoot him out of his tree.
That is what we expected to happen. Instead, the Silver Fox somehow eluded time and landed on his spry feet hungry for competition.
On May 5th and 8th he went a combined 0 – 3 but there had been some sign of life in his bat. He made contact each time and hit the ball hard something he had rarely done in 2017.
On May 9th he hit a pinch-hit double. On May 10th another double. May 11th it was a triple. May 12th was another triple. The OPS had jumped from .325 to .601 in four games. The extra base power was back. Or was it? He would not collect another XBH over his next nine games. The OPS had sauntered back to .569. Had that brief four-game fling been a mirage?
Many thought so.
Many were wrong.
From May 25th thru May 30th, Chase Utley slugged three home runs, a double, and a triple. His OPS now stands at .777.
Whatever happens going forward won’t detract from the fact that the Silver Fox helped save the Dodgers bacon in May. First Logan Forsythe went down and he helped at 2nd. Adrian Gonzalez went down and Andrew Toles, moving Chase to 1st base. Justin Turner went down so he went back to 2nd base.
Chris Taylor and Cody Bellinger are compelling stories, but Chase Utley’s resurgence at age 38 can stand side by side with those other men of May.
Oh, and by the way, Chase Utley has three triples in May. You want a crazy looking leaderboard? How about the most triples in May by a LAD. Chase cracks the list.
I bet you didn’t’ expect to see Blake DeWitt on this list, did you? Ron Cey? WTH!
Player Split Year 3B PA Willie Davis May 1970 5 123 Jim Gilliam May 1958 4 134 Manny Mota May 1970 4 86 Brett Butler May 1994 4 125 John Roseboro May 1958 3 74 Dick Gray May 1958 3 51 Maury Wills May 1961 3 125 Willie Davis May 1972 3 121 Ron Cey May 1973 3 125 Davey Lopes May 1979 3 127 Pedro Guerrero May 1982 3 120 Steve Sax May 1983 3 115 Jose Gonzalez May 1990 3 33 Mitch Webster May 1992 3 54 Jose Offerman May 1993 3 112 Raul Mondesi May 1994 3 113 Wilton Guerrero May 1997 3 90 Juan Pierre May 2009 3 125 Blake DeWitt May 2010 3 88 Chase Utley May 2017 3 79
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Generated 5/31/2017.
OTDIB – May 31st, 1981 – Fernandomania moves the turnstiles
May 31st, 1981 – Fernandomania moves turnstiles
Playing before their tenth consecutive home sellout, the Dodgers pound the Reds 16-4 and raise their season attendance to 1,026,725 in 22 dates. It is the earliest any team has cracked the one million attendance barrier.
16 – 4 sounds like a fun game. And it was. Look at this box score. Two of the best pitchers of that year Mario Soto and Jerry Reuss squared off. Reuss only pitched to one batter before being lifted for Rick Sutcliffe. By the bottom of the 3rd the Dodgers were down 4 – 0 before scoring the next sixteen runs. They only hit one home run that game courtesy of Rick Monday. Reuss would make his next start so I’m not sure what happened to him. Dave Goltz/Dave Stewart/Terry Forster pitched five scoreless innings. If only Dave Goltz had at least 3 innings of scoreless ball in his arm the previous October.
May 31st, 1980 – This one is for Big Mike
Ken Landreaux goes 0-for-4 in Minnesota’s 11-1 loss to the Orioles to end his hitting streak at 31 consecutive games. Baltimore southpaw Scott McGregor does the honors. It is the longest streak in the A.L. since Dom DiMaggio’s 34-game stretch in 1949.
Kenny Landreaux would become a Dodger in 1981 and be the starting CF on the 1981 World Championship team. He had a sweet left-handed swing that seemed to indicate more production than what you actually got so you always felt like you didn’t get the best of him.
Ok, this is cool. Kenny Landreau was drafted by the Angels with the 6th pick of the 1976 draft. He was traded to the Twins for none other than Rod Carew. He was then traded to the Dodgers on March 30, 1981, just before the start of the season. For fan favorite Mickey Hatcher. Landreau would retire in 1987, but Mickey Hatcher would rejoin the team in 1988 and rekindle his love affair with the Dodger fans and be an integral part of the World Championship 1988 team.
It is all just one big circle.
And to cement that circle is this Rod Carew heart transplant story that aired on CBS Sunday Morning. It will get misty.
19th win in May puts LAD in select company
With their nineteenth win in May, last night the 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers moved into select company. Only four other Dodger teams since 1958 have won nineteen games in May and those four are among the greatest in Los Angeles Dodger history.
Split Year W W-L% ERA tOPS+ sOPS+ May 1962 21 .750 3.03 91 77 May 2009 20 .690 3.42 106 86 May 2010 20 .714 3.72 93 83 May 1981 19 .655 3.06 103 85 May 2017 19 .704 2.96 94 71 May 1974 19 .704 3.24 99 81 May 1965 19 .613 2.46 89 67 May 1973 19 .704 3.17 114 93
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Generated 5/31/2017.
The 1965 team went 19 – 12 in May on their way to the Los Angeles Dodgers 3rd World Championship and second in three years. They would win 97 games on the season.
The 1981 team went 19 – 10 in May on their way to the Los Angeles Dodgers 4th World Championship and first since the 1965 team. That team went 63-47 but they only played 110 games because of the strike that shortened the season.
The 1974 team went 19 – 8 in May and would play the Oakland Athletics in a tightly fought World Series. The young team would ultimately lose to the A’s but it will always remain one of my favorite teams. It was the Dodgers first time back to the World Series since the Orioles swept them away in four games in 1966. This team went 102 – 60 and won the most games of any Los Angeles Dodger team in a 162 game season. The 1962 Dodgers also won 102 games but only because of a three-game playoff against the Giants that for some reason has been counted as regular season games.
1973 team went 19 – 8 but unlike the other three teams, there would be no post-season for them. This team did win 95 games but came up 3.5 games short of the division title. If they had wild card teams back then, they would have made the postseason. The Mets had won the Eastern division with only 82 wins. The Reds and Dodgers were by far the two best teams in the NL that year but only the Reds got to the postseason. The Mets showed that wins mean little over a 162 season when you let postseason advancement be decided in a five-game series. The Mets beat the Reds three games out of five to get to the World Series. The Mets lost a thrilling World Series to the A’s 4 games to 3. If you ever wonder about the talk of the Rollie Fingers age of relief pitching this stat might tell you all you need to know. Rollie Fingers pitched more innings in the World Series than any other Oakland pitcher including three innings in game seven.
Just who is the Dodgers best SS prospect?
Based on early season prospect rankings the answer would be the 2016 number one pick Gavin Lux, but is it? From what I can tell, the Dodgers have three shortstops on their Great Lakes roster or at least two.
The contenders:
Gavin Lux – the 2016 number one pick didn’t play his first game this year until late April and was in a early season funk until May 11th when he started to pick up his offense. Lux has shown a good eye with a 100 point spread between his BA and OBP. That is the only good offensive news so far. He strikes out at a good clip for a guy who has yet to hit a home run this year and has only five XBH in 123 at-bats. He’s only nineteen and won’t turn 20 until late November. Given he was considered the best shortstop in the draft not named Delvin Perez I find it curious that he’s splitting time at SS with Brendon Davis. Instead of just planting him at SS once he joined the Loons, he’s started fifteen games at 2nd base, and fifteen games at shortstop. My gut says to rank Brendon Davis ahead of Lux, but for now, I’ll comply with the scouting reports that say Lux is a true SS and that Davis profiles more as a 3rd baseman. For now.
Brendon Davis – Davis is only a few months older than Lux even though he has been in the Dodger system since 2015. With Lux not joining the team until April 20th, Davis got many starts at shortstop, but even with Lux now on the team, Davis continues to start some games at shortstop. This year he has started 11 games at 2nd, 14 games at 3rd, and 19 games at shortstop. His bat picked up this year and even though he’s dropped off in May he still has an OPS of .858 in a tough offensive league. That OPS is good enough for 12th place in the league and he hits in over half his games in one of the tougher pitching parks in the league. Even tonight, Brendon Davis was playing SS and Lux 2nd base. For good measure, Davis almost went for a cycle tonight.
Drew Jackson – received in the trade for Chase De Jong from the Mariners during spring training. Before you scoff too loudly, remember it was almost a year ago the Dodgers turned a non-asset like Zach Lee into Chris Taylor. You might know Taylor as the Dodgers starting CF and the best hitter on the team in May. Anyway, Drew Jackson is repeating A+ ball and is on the Dodgers California League team. Headed into this year Jackson was a speed guy with little power. This year he has discovered some power but that might simply be the California League. In his debut professional season, he stole 47 bases while getting caught only four times in just 59 games. That is kind of insane. Too bad he didn’t keep that up. I guess the catchers/pitchers have caught up to him because this year in 37 games, he’s only stolen six bases while getting caught five times. They say he has a cannon for an arm with soft hands. If Drew can’t find his bat he might be the next Dodger prospect to be converted to a pitcher. Imagine the value of a relief pitcher who can really pinch run and play defense?
Oneil Cruz – the baby of the bunch, Cruz is just eighteen, and at 6’6 is probably too tall for either SS or 3rd base. He has however started sixteen games at SS this year for the Loons compared to twenty-two at 3rd base. The left-handed hitting Cruz was in a huge slump to start the year but things have started to pick up with thirteen hits in his last forty-five at-bats. Cruz has now gotten his May OPS up to .732 after compiling a .358 OPS in April. The only reason Cruz is last is that I simply can’t take it seriously that he could play shortstop at the major league level. He’s 6’6 now, and at only 18 he’s still a growing boy. He’s lanky now, but Joel Guzman was lanky at 18 and hulked out. Cruz seems like one of those left side infielders who ends up at 1st base though the scouts say he can handle 3rd base. We shall see, but for now, I don’t consider him a shortstop prospect.
As I stated above it is a curious thing the Dodgers are doing with Lux/Davis/Cruz. Davis has played 2nd/SS/3rd. Lux has played 2nd/SS. Cruz has played SS/3rd.
Are they taking versatility to a new level with their prospects? Or are they simply undecided about who should be the Loon shortstop?
I’d really like to see Drew Jackson promoted to Tulsa to play SS, and find out if he can hit higher levels of pitching because if not, maybe they should get on that pitching transformation.
OTDIB – May 29th – 104 year-old World War One vet visits Dodger Stadium
On this date in baseball, May 29th:
May 29th, 2010 – Doc is in the house
Roy Halladay throws the 20th perfect game in major league history, outdueling Josh Johnson in the Phillies’ 1-0 victory over the Marlins at Miami’s Sun Life Stadium. The former American League Cy Young Award winner, obtained from Toronto in the off-season, joins Jim Bunning as the only other hurler in franchise history to accomplish the feat
I mention this one because Jim Bunning died last week.
May 29th, 2000 – WWI vet visits Dodger Stadium
At the age of 104, Fred Roberts, the oldest living Dodger fan, makes his first visit to Dodger Stadium. Wearing a jersey with the number 104, the World War I veteran cheers as Shawn Green’s sixth inning grand slam helps to beat Al Leiter and the Mets, 4-1.
May 29th, 1979 – Dodger power
At Dodger Stadium, Dusty Baker, Rick Sutcliffe, Steve Garvey, Gary Thomasson, Derrel Thomas, Joe Ferguson, and Davey Lopes set a team record by hitting seven home runs as the Dodgers crush the Reds, 17-6.
I was at this game, they lit up a young Red prospect named Frank Pastore. But guess what. The date was actually May 25th, 1979 not May 29th as the website claims. Didn’t occur to me that I had to error check these events.
OTDIB – May 28th – Lo Duca goes six for six
On this date in baseball, May 28th
May 28th, 2011 – fire hits Dodger Stadium during game
The game between Los Angeles and Florida continues as fans in a section of the upper deck seats at Dodger Stadium are evacuated due to a small fire in a nearby storage area. With plumes of smoke visible coming from the top level of the ball park on the first base side, the crowd is informed by the public address announcer that it will not be necessary to evacuate the entire stadium.
May 28th, 2001 – Lo Duca goes six for six
2001 In an 11-inning slugfest with Colorado, LA catcher Paul Lo Duca goes 6-for-6 in the team’s 11-10 victory at Dodger Stadium. The backstop’s five singles and a three-run homer tie a National League record for hits in an extra-inning game.
May 28th, 1973 – Only a knuckleballer could do this
1973 Wilbur Wood, allowing only two hits in five innings, hurls the remainder of a 21-inning game that had been suspended two nights earlier, to earn the win when Chicago beats the Indians at White Sox Park, 4-1. The 31 year-old knuckleballer, who later in the season will lose both ends of a doubleheader, then pitches a four-hit complete game shutout in the regularly scheduled game to earn two victories tonight.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 