Los Angeles Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu was named National League Pitcher of the Month for May, MLB announced. It’s the first time Ryu has earned such recognition in his career. Chicago White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito took home the honor in the American League.
Ryu was previously named NL Pitcher of the Week for May 6-12. He made two starts during that stretch and was virtually untouchable. Ryu tossed a combined 17 shutout innings while allowing just five hits to go along with 15 strikeouts and one walk.
In his first start of the week against the Atlanta Braves, Ryu threw the Dodgers’ first complete-game of the season and his first complete-game shutout since his rookie year. Ryu carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and wound up finishing the outing on just 93 pitches, giving up four hits and striking out six.
Ryu made a total of six starts during May, going 5-0 with a 0.59 ERA, 0.68 WHIP, 36 strikeouts and just three walks across 45.2 innings pitched. He additionally produced a streak of 32 scoreless innings during the month.
Ryu’s ERA was the lowest by any Dodgers starter in a calendar month since Clayton Kershaw’s 0.27 ERA in July 2015. Ryu capped off an impressive month of May with an effective changeup that kept the New York Mets off balance. He recorded seven strikeouts over 7.2 innings of 2-0 win for the Dodgers.
Overall this season, Ryu is 8-1 and leads all pitchers with a 1.48 ERA and 13.8 strikeout to walk ratio. His 0.81 WHIP paces all NL starting pitchers. Despite his sustained dominance, Ryu is not focused on statistics.
“I don’t really look at the numbers,” he said. “My main focus going into the game and also each and every game is to make sure I don’t give up walks or an easy hit, and just try to keep damage control. So I’m not really aware of all the numbers.”
Ryu is the first Dodgers pitcher to earn NL Pitcher of the Month honors since Rich Hill in July 2017.
