LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers had a rough month on the pitching side. Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow did not pitch at all in May, and Roki Sasaki only made two bad starts before landing on the injured list himself. The heavy bullpen usage took its toll as the relievers showed cracks in May as well.
But the offense was good enough to sweep most of that under the rug, led by two stars red-hot for all of May.
Shohei Ohtani tied the franchise record with 15 home runs in a month, and Freddie Freeman hit over .400. As a group, the Dodgers led the majors by scoring 6.41 runs per game during May, the third-best month the Dodgers had since moving to Los Angeles in 1958, which was good enough to secure a winning month.
Most LA Dodgers runs scored per game in a month
Month
Games
Runs
Runs/game
Month
Games
Runs
Runs/game
April 1977
20
132
6.60
July 1962
26
167
6.42
May 2025
27
173
6.41
May 1970
28
178
6.36
September 2014
25
156
6.24
September 2024
26
162
6.23
May 2022
28
174
6.21
May 2023
28
173
6.18
April 2000
24
146
6.08
May 1962
28
170
6.07
August 2023
29
176
6.07
September 2020
24
145
6.04
May 2006
28
169
6.04
minimum 15 games
Source: Baseball Reference
May results
15-12 record
173 runs scored (6.41 per game, 1st in MLB)
124 runs allowed (4.59 per game, 21st in MLB)
.648 pythagorean win percentage (17-10)
Year to date
36-22 record
340 runs scored (5.86 per game, 1st in MLB)
256 runs allowed (4.41 per game, 21st in MLB)
.627 pythagorean win percentage (36-22)
Going 15-12 in May was worse than the Dodgers’ 21-10 month, but they also had the best record in the National League West during May to increase their divisional lead, up three games on the Padres and four on the Giants.
MVPs at the top
Ohtani hit 15 home runs during May, matching Duke Snider (August 1953) and Pedro Guerrero (June 1985) for most in any month in Dodgers history. That fueled a month in which Ohtani hit .309/.398/.782 with a 212 wRC+, 31 runs scored, and 27 RBI, and led the National League in home runs, runs scored, slugging percentage, OPS (1.180), and wRC+.
He also started facing hitters in his pitching rehab, inching closer to returning to a major league mound.
Freeman played in all 27 games in May, and 15 of those were multi-hit affairs. He hit .410/.462/.638 for the month with a 201 wRC+, 21 RBI and 20 runs scored, leading the league in hits (43) and batting average. On May 11 in Arizona, Freeman hit his 900th career extra-base hit, just the 70th player in major league history to do so.
It’s the 49th month in Dodgers history in which a player hit at least .400 in at least 100 plate appearances. Freeman himself had one of the previous months, in May 2023.
The first baseman did all this while limping on the surgically-repaired right ankle that also caused Freeman to miss time in April on the injured list, and requires daily pregame treatment.
“He’s a medical marvel,” manager Dave Roberts said Saturday.
Not to be outdone, Will Smith continued his hot start, hitting .370/.484/.534 with a 189 wRC+ during May.
On the season, Freeman, Ohtani, and Smith are first, second, and third in the National League in wRC+. Freeman leads the league in batting average (.374), Smith leads in on-base percentage (.454), and Ohtani leads in slugging (.667). Only Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies prevented another all-Dodgers top three in OPS, nestling in third at .991 behind Freeman and Ohtani but just ahead of Smith (.971).
Pitching attrition
Dodgers run prevention in May suffered injuries, but also from usage catching up to some of the most trusted members of the staff.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto remained solid, with a 3.00 ERA and averaging six inning per start. Starters in May for the Dodgers actually pitched deeper into games (5.11 innings per outing) than in April (4.63 innings per), but had a worse ERA (4.37 in May, 3.89 in April).
The toll on the entire staff was felt thanks in part to a tighter schedule. Put another way, the Dodgers pitched 257 innings in the domestic portion of their March and April schedule, which was stretched over 35 days. Whereas the 242 innings in May were stretched over 30 days (they were off on May 1).
It didn’t help that Evan Phillips got hurt in the month’s first week, and will have Tommy John surgery next week, wiping out a large chunk of his 2026 season as well. Or that Kirby Yates was sidelined by a hamstring strain, and that Blake Treinen did not pitch during the month. Tanner Scott was healthy but struggled, with a 7.59 ERA with three blown leads in the last week and a half.
The super bulk rookie duo of Ben Casparius and Jack Dreyer continued to serve as ballasts for a beleaguered staff, combining for a 1.77 ERA and 27.3-percent strikeout rate in 27⅔ innings. Fellow rookie Matt Sauer also served a load-bearing role in May with a 3.21 ERA in 14 innings, starting his month with a four-inning save, the first such save of his career. But Sauer succumbed to the Dodgers’ need for fresh arms, getting optioned back to Triple-A on May 24.
Hellos and goodbyes
The Dodgers in a five-day span in the middle of May cut ties with the two longest-tenured position players on the roster, catcher Austin Barnes and infielder/outfielder Chris Taylor, who signed with the Angels on May 26.
Youth was added to the roster in their places, with top prospect Dalton Rushing and utility man Hyeseong Kim each making their major league debuts. Rushing has caught once a series and pinch-hit occasionally, and hit .220/.341/.382 in his first 23 plate appearances, including his first major league home run on Saturday.
Kim has started at second base, center field, and shortstop, and hit a robust .422/.458/.600 in 48 plate appearances with four stolen bases. That included four hits, including a home run, and a walk on Saturday, a game in which he started a great double play from shortstop, and threw out Aaron Judge at second base from center field.
“He’s the Comet for a reason,” Max Muncy said of Kim on Saturday.
Divisional woes
The entire National League West was just 56-80 (.412) during May, including 52-56 (.481) for the four non-Rockies teams. Through the end of April, the division had a composite 80-72 (.526) record, with the four competitive teams at 75-47 (.615).
The top four National League West teams were 35-43 (.449) against teams outside of the division in May, compared to 67-45 (.598) in April.
Previous monthly review: April
The month ahead
The Dodgers play a good chunk of divisional games during June, including playing the Padres (June 9-11 in San Diego, June 16-19 in Los Angeles) and Giants (June 13-15 in LA) for the first time this season. Thirteen of the Dodgers’ 27 games in June are against the National League West. Fifteen of the 27 games are at Dodger Stadium, including the longest homestand of the season from June 13-22, hosting the Giants, Padres, and Nationals.