How Spectacular Has the Brewers Pitching Been in May

[BruisedCrew]

I made a statement earlier this week that the Brewers great May record has been largely a result of sensational pitching with enough offense to take advantage of it. That comment drew a skeptical response, probably because for the season the Brewers are fourth in the NL with 5.04 runs scored per game. 

To check my perception I looked at the league run production for just the month of May. The Brewers May record of 13-4 is the best in the league, followed by the Phillies at 13-6 and the Braves at 12-6. 

The Brewers have scored 77 runs in the month for an average of 4.53 RPG. That is about a half run lower than their full season average and puts them 8th in the NL for the month. The league average for the month is 4.49 RPG. So even following their best offensive series of the month, their run production has been about average. 

On the pitching side, though, the Brewers have allowed only 40 runs, an average of a stingy 2.35 runs per game. Not only is that the best in the league, it is far ahead of the second best (Dodgers at 3.05 RPG) and almost 2 full runs per game better than the league average of 4.31. 
 

 

[wiguy94]

Brewers pitching in May and MLB ranks

2.21 ERA (1st) next best is 2.56

2.62 xERA (1st) next best is 3.23

2.39 FIP (1st) next best is 3.17

3.12 xFIP (1st) next best is 3.17

30.3% K-rate (1st) next best is 26.4%

8.0% BB-rate (9th)

22.2% K-BB rate (1st) next best is 22.0%

.197 BA against (2nd)

1.03 WHIP (1st) next best is 1.04

2.94 SIERA (1st) next best is 3.12

110 Stuff+ (1st) next best is 107

112 Pitching+ (1st) next best is 110

So yeah the Brewers pitching staff has basically dominated in the month of May by basically every metric you could think of. 

This hasn't been due to having a super easy schedule either. These are the season wRC+ and ranks of the teams we have faced in May.

Washington - 109 (5th)

St. Louis - 103 (12th)

New York - 115 (3rd)

San Diego - 89 (28th)

Minnesota - 101 (14th)

Chicago - 110 (4th)

It doesn't get any easier to end the month 

Los Angeles - 119 (1st)

St. Louis - 103 (12th)

Houston - 104 (8th)