Clayton Kershaw Is Still Doing The Damn Thing
I swear, every year for the last four years, I've been waiting for some semblance of a decline from Clayton Kershaw. He's indeed been past his dominant prime for a while, but even that speaks to the greatness of Clayton Kershaw. Even his non-prime is still better than 95% of pitchers. Kershaw, the innings eater ceased being following the 2017 season. Since then, his ERA has been 2.87 over the last 5+ seasons. Some elite pitchers would kill to have those numbers.
What's fascinating about Kershaw is how similar has stuff is compared to when he was winning Cy Youngs. He's not eating up the innings he used to, and he doesn't throw as hard as he used to, but his fastball command is still excellent, and his offspeed stuff remains untouchable. Yesterday, in a game against a Reds team that was coming off their most electric victory in years, Kershaw did Kershaw things. Seven innings, two hits, no runs, nine strikeouts. That's ace stuff from a pitcher who knows a thing or two about ace stuff. His ERA on the season now sits at 2.95, and his career ERA is 2.49. There are Cy Young winners who have yet to put up a 2.49 ERA in a single season. This guy has done it his whole career.
We take guys like these for granted. I'm as guilty of that as anybody. I've complained ad nauseam about his shaky postseason resume. I stand by that. He's been a different pitcher in October. If we're talking about who the best pitcher of this generation is, it's pretty much neck and neck with Justin Verlander. Kershaw never had Verlander's fastball, but if we're just talking about run prevention, Kershaw is the best by far. JV has only had two seasons in which his ERA was lower than Kershaw's carrer ERA. And considering his recent injuries, it's ironic that Kershaw is the one who has been asked to anchor down a rotation that has been riddled with injuries. I know how the Dodgers work. I'm sure they'll put Kershaw on the ten-day IL soon with a made-up injury so that they can save him for October. I respect it. Kershaw is one of the last of a dying breed. One pitcher playing his entire career with one team and pitching at a high level the whole time. Enjoy him while you have him.