At 61-29 and with the best record in baseball entering play Friday, the Los Angeles Dodgers rest comfortably with a 7.5-game lead over the second-place Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West standings.
While the Dodgers has statistically been one of the best hitting teams in the league, the team ranks near the top in many pitching categories as well. Los Angeles owns the lowest team ERA at 3.15 — nearly three-tenths of a run better than the Diamondbacks’ 3.41 mark.
The Dodgers also posted the lowest WHIP (1.12) and batting average against (.223) while registering the most strikeouts (868) through the first half of 2017.
Let’s look back at some key performers from the Dodgers starting rotation during the first half of the season and how they project going forward.
Disappointments
Hyun-Jin Ryu: In his first full season in three years, Ryu struggled to find consistency during the first half.
On one hand, he yielded four or more runs in five starts. On the other hand, Ryu allowed two runs or less in eight starts.
For the year, Ryu has pitched to a 4.21 ERA in 72.2 innings — but he’s already allowed a career-high 15 home runs (1.9 per nine innings) — contributing to a disappointing 5.00 FIP. It doesn’t help that he’s giving up nearly 10 hits per nine, either.
On the plus side, Ryu’s strikeouts per nine are at an all-time high (8.5) while his 2.7 walks per nine is right in line with his career mark of 2.2.
If Ryu can limit the long ball, his metrics will naturally improve and he’ll enjoy more success during the second half of the season.
Julio Urias: It was a disappointing first half for Urias, who managed to make only five starts in the Majors — posting a 5.40 ERA and 4.69 FIP in 23.1 innings.
The young left-hander walked more batters than strikeouts (14 to 11) and battled with pitch command during the small sample size.
Unfortunately for Urias, he suffered a shoulder injury in a Triple-A Oklahoma City start during June and is expected to miss an entire calendar year after undergoing season-ending anterior capsule surgery.
While shoulder injuries can be detrimental to a pitcher’s career, Urias is still just 20 years old, leaving optimism that he’ll be able to fully recover and eventually return to form. What’s more, his specific injury is considered an acute instance.
Standouts
Clayton Kershaw: The Dodgers ace was excellent during the first half despite an uncharacteristic spike in the home run ball.
Over 132.1 innings pitched, Kershaw posted a 2.18 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and 3.01 FIP with 159 strikeouts to just 22 walks.
Kershaw’s FIP is higher than usual because of a 1.2 home runs per nine innings ratio. He has already allowed a career-high 18 home runs on the year.
Still, Kershaw was selected to his seventh consecutive All-Star Game — though he didn’t participate in the event because he last pitched on Sunday.
Brandon McCarthy: Healthy again, McCarthy is in the midst of his best season since signing with with the Dodgers prior to the 2015 season.
In 78 innings, the right-hander put up a solid 3.12 ERA and 3.25 FIP while limiting home runs to a career-best 0.5 home runs per nine ratio.
Generally speaking, McCarthy’s yips issue from last season hasn’t recurred thus far and he’s averaging nearly six innings per start. He’s been welcome source of durability in the Dodgers rotation.
MVP
Alex Wood: Though he spent some time on the disabled list, Wood has elevated his game to the next level.
In 80.2 innings, the southpaw owns a perfect 10-0 record — pitching to a minuscule 1.67 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 2.03 FIP with a career-high 10.8 strikeouts per nine ratio.
Wood became the first Dodgers starting pitcher to win 10 games before losing one since Don Newcombe accomplished that feat in 1955.
Among starting pitchers with a minimum of 80 innings pitched, Wood leads the league in ERA, FIP and xFIP (2.57), while also ranking fifth in fWAR at 3.2.
With a terrific first half, Wood was selected to his first career All-Star Game, replacing Kershaw.
Wood allowed two hits and a run in one inning pitched during the contest — though the run-scoring single was a blooper to right field that barely landed in fair territory.
