Dodgers Stock Up, Stock Down: May Comes to an End

This is another installment of the Dodgers’ Stock Up/Stock Down series where we take a look at who is hot and who is not.

The Dodgers are right at the end of the month of May — It was a month that featured bullpen meltdowns, historic offensive production, and even some historic starting pitching performances.

Let us take a look at what individuals have best contributed to the Dodgers’ excellent record of 17-7 through May 29th:

Stock Up

Joc Pederson, OF

Stats: .268 batting average, 1.019 OPS, 161 wRC+, 1.8 WAR, 49 games

Joc has been red-hot at the plate and leads all of Major League Baseball with an OPS approaching 1.400 since May 15th.

Heading into Wednesday night's game Joc Pederson has posted a .500/.586/.792 (1.378 OPS) slash line over his last 8 games (5 starts).

Legend has it that those numbers are productive.

His .550 BAbip will tell you to bet everything you have on the regression.

— Clint Pasillas (@realFRG) May 30, 2019

He had a short dry spell, but quickly got back on track. He punctuated his hot streak with last night’s home run off the Mets’ Edwin Diaz. Expect Joc to continue leading off against right-handed pitching and continue to be a force at the plate against that handedness of pitching.

Justin Turner, 3B

Stats: .306 batting average, .838 OPS, 130 wRC+, 1.3 WAR, 51 games

Turner put together the first five-hit effort of his career and has just a 2.9 K% since May 15th, which amongst the league leaders in Major League Baseball over that span. He has been locked in at the plate and has found his power stroke somewhat with his slugging percentage nearing the .500 mark.

Kenta Maeda, SP

Stats: 56 1/3 innings pitched, 56 strikeouts, 3.67 ERA, 4.04 FIP, 3.70 DRA

Maeda has put together some fantastic pitching performances recently, especially the two prior to his IL stint. Maeda tossed 12 2/3 innings of scoreless ball in those two starts with 18 strikeouts. His most recent start against the Pirates was not terrible, but it was not in line with the previous two. It will be interesting to see how Maeda rebounds next start and in the month of June.

Stock Down

Kiké Hernandez, UT

Stats: .220 batting average, .709 OPS, 90 wRC+, 0.7 WAR, 50 games

Hernandez has truly been a disappointment this season. His numbers are pretty terrible since his hot start at the beginning of the year and his only value is coming defensively. He is a liability on the offensive side of the ball at this point, though. It will be interesting to see if he can rebound from this prolonged stretch of mediocrity, but in my personal opinion, the prospects are not great.

Alex Verdugo, OF

Stats: .315 batting average, .879 OPS, 133 wRC+, 1.5 WAR, 52 games

You may not like to hear this, but Dugie has been fairly cold over the last two weeks, posting an OPS right around .700 in that span. No, it does not mean he is going to me mired in some two-month slump now. He is fine. Everyone has issues they need to iron out. And a walk off plate appearance helps every one.

Yimi Garcia, RP

Stats: 22 2/3 innings pitched, 21 strikeouts, 4.76 ERA, 5.59 FIP, 4.67 DRA

Garcia is in serious danger of losing his roster spot after his latest blowup. He is out of options and frankly, it might be time to move on. The peripheral numbers look even worse than his actual numbers, which is never a good sign. The Yimi Garcia project may be coming to an end once and for all.

Overall

The Dodgers boast one of the better lineups and starting pitching staffs in the game, but the bullpen continues to be a major issue as we head into the month of June.