Six straight series wins and a 15-5 stretch to finish the month strengthened LA’s lead in the NL West to more than double than at the start of the month.
June was a challenging month for the Dodgers, with a few of their stars not producing and the pitching staff having its worst month yet as a unit.
They fell behind early quite often and even lost five of their first seven games of the month. But then the Dodgers timed things perfectly, inning six consecutive series and 15 of their last 20 games. That included two series wins over the Padres and another over the Giants, winning seven of those 10 contests.
As a result, the Dodgers widened their lead in the National League West from three games at the beginning of the month to seven games now. That will work.
June results
17-10 record
137 runs scored (5.07 per game, 5th in MLB)
131 runs allowed (4.85 per game, 25th in MLB)
.520 pythagorean win percentage (14-13)
Year to date
53-32 record
477 runs scored (5.61 per game, 1st in MLB)
387 runs allowed (4.55 per game, 22nd in MLB)
.595 pythagorean win percentage (51-34)
First things first
The Dodgers offense was off, relative to its usual performance, thanks in part to the bulk of the top of the lineup having subpar months. Mookie Betts (.240/.303/.330, 74 wRC+), Freddie Freeman (.200/.283/.274, 58 wRC+), and Teoscar Hernández (.189/.243/.347, 62 wRC+) were all well below average during June.
Shohei Ohtani (.265/.372/.559, 151 wRC+) was productive, but the other stars struggling it led to some slow starts in games. Dodgers 1-4 hitters in the first inning during June hit a mere .140/.204/.267. As a result, the team only scored in the first inning five times in 27 games during month, but they allowed at least one run in the first inning 12 times. But even with getting outscored in the opening frame 15-9 during June, the Dodgers in games they trailed after one inning still managed to go 5-4, including winning each of their last five such games.
Power drive
Max Muncy carried over his home run hitting from May into June, hitting seven long balls while batting .333/.459/.654 with a 205 wRC+ during the month. He also drove in 24 runs in June, after driving in 26 runs during May, giving him his two biggest RBI months back-to-back.
Andy Pages continued his resurgence with six home runs and 19 RBI during June, hitting .324/.333/.578 with a 148 wRC+. He did all this despite not walking until the penultimate game of the month, taking first base in his 103rd of 108 June plate appearances. That kept Pages from joining Glenn Wright (.957 OPS in September 1932), Raúl Mondesí (.933 OPS in July 1998), and Ray Schmandt (.911 OPS in June 1921) as the only Dodgers with a .900 OPS and zero walks in a month of at least 50 plate appearances.
Just like old times
There had to be some worry about just how much Clayton Kershaw had left in the tank, with more walks (nine) than strikeouts (eight) through his first four starts. But his next four starts have been much better, with improved command helping him keep opponents off balance, with 21 strikeouts against only three walks over his last 23 innings.
Kershaw won all four of those starts, giving him his first four-win month since June 2023. In his 18th season, Kershaw was the steady force in the Dodgers rotation during the month, leading the staff in ERA and second in innings pitched.
Seizing the opportunity
Justin Wrobleski was called up for a spot start on June 6, but after Tony Gonsolin landed on the injured list with elbow discomfort (now out until at least August) that allowed Wrobleski to stick around. The left-hander just kept pitching well, first in bulk relief then as a starter-level pitcher only following an opener. In all, Wrobleski had a 2.73 ERA and 26 strikeouts against only six walks in 26⅓ innings, and won his last three starts.
An improved fastball and pounding the strike zone has led to Wrobleski keeping the ball in the park and on the ground this year, compared to his first go-around in the majors last season.
Welcome back
The Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani as a two-way player, but had to settle for merely the first 50-50 campaign and an MVP award as a one-way player in his first season with the team. This June brought us our first glimpse of Ohtani pitching in a Dodgers uniform, thus far limited to three short outings as an opener, totaling four innings. He’ll get stretched out eventually, but it will be a gradual process.
Emmet Sheehan returned from Tommy John surgery, too. Though he was optioned to Triple-A after only one start, it’s a perfect lock he’ll be back in the Dodgers rotation at some point in the first week of July.
His name isn’t Dustin June
Dustin May’s first major league experience of pitching in the month of June went terribly, with a 5.67 ERA for the month with only 17 strikeouts against 12 unintentional walks in 27 innings, and opposing batters hit .276/.379/.533 against him during June. The one thing May was providing was some semblance of length, lasting at least five innings in each of his first 14 starts, but that streak ended by allowing four runs in four innings on Friday in Kansas City.
Rehab from flexor tendon repair and revision to his Tommy John surgery, coupled with an esophageal tear kept May off of a major league mound for 22 months. His 82⅔ innings this year are already a major league career high, and his most as a professional since amassing 144⅔ innings between the majors, minors, and postseason in 2019. It might be time for a break or reset at some point soon.
I wouldn’t say I’m missing bats, Bob
The Dodgers pitching staff allowed its most runs per game of the season during June, with a second straight month allowing over 4.5 runs per contest.
A big culprit was the inability to put hitters away. Dodgers pitchers struck out only 20.3 percent of batters faced during June, ranking 24th in the majors. That’s after ranking third in strikeout rate in April and ninth in May, striking out a collective 24.3 percent over the first two baseball months.
May (13.5 percent) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (23.6 percent) had their worst strikeout months of the season to date (Yamamoto’s was still above average). That duo went from a combined 68 strikeouts and 17 walks in 10 starts in May to 43 strikeouts and 23 unintentional walks in 10 starts in June.
But Michael Kopech and Kirby Yates returned from the injured list during June, and having a back four in the bullpen of Tanner Scott, Alex Vesia, Kopech, and Yates – who combined for 30 strikeouts (a 29-percent strikeout rate) and a 1.51 ERA in 35⅔ innings in June – is a good base to build on going forward.
Previous monthly reviews: April | May
The month ahead
The All-Star Game cuts into the schedule this month, though several Dodgers will likely head to Atlanta for the midsummer classic. Half of the Dodgers’ 24 games in July are against American League teams. The series against the Giants from July 11-13 heading into the break is the only Dodgers divisional tilt during the month.