The concerns about Clayton Kershaw, 35, have been well documented. Now, the question of where the Dodgers would be without Kershaw is a natural one.
The current Dodgers starting rotation is plagued by injuries. Julio Urias, Dustin May, and Noah Syndergaard are all out of the starting lineup. But it’s actually Kershaw who’s the biggest concern.
Kershaw has been out of the rotation repeatedly lately with back and elbow issues. The red flags about his health have made him less valuable in a career that has seen him win three Cy Young Awards. He signed a seven-year, $215 million contract in 2014, the most expensive for a pitcher at the time, and in 2018 he exercised his opt-out and signed a three-year, $93 million deal.
His contract is up in 2021, and rumors abound about where Kershaw will end up. There was talk of him returning to his hometown Texas Rangers, but the Dodgers opted for the “eternal blue blood”. They signed him to a one-year deal. He signed for $17 million for the 2022 season and $20 million for this year.
Klass is still an aging starter whose health needs to be closely monitored. However, Kershaw has been a stalwart of the starting rotation this year, even as Urias, May, and Syndergaard, all younger than Kershaw, have been sidelined with injuries.
On Aug. 28 (KST), he took the mound against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, USA, and threw six innings of one-hit ball with 79 pitches, one walk and two strikeouts to earn his 10th win.
Kershaw is now 10-4 with a 2.55 ERA (27 earned runs in 95 1/3 innings), 105 strikeouts, and a 1.05 WHIP. Even as young pitchers dominate and veterans groan with injuries, Kershaw has rejuvenated perfectly this year.
In April, Kershaw won National League Pitcher of the Month after going 5-0 with a 1.89 ERA in six games. Now, he’s rejuvenated to the point where he’s in contention for Pitcher of the Month once again. His June numbers are even better than his April numbers. In five starts in April, he went 4-0 with a 1.09 ERA (4 earned runs in 33 innings), 30 strikeouts, 8 walks, and a 0.88 WHIP. He is tied for first in the National League in wins, second in ERA, and fourth in innings pitched in June.카지노사이트
With Kershaw still serving as the ace, young guns like Bobby Miller and Emmitt Scherzer have been able to hold their own in the rush to get called up. Of course, Miller and Shea are entering the realm of super-exceptional prospects and showing off their talents, but Kershaw’s class can’t be ignored.
However, we should take a closer look at Kershaw’s health after tonight’s game against Colorado. Kershaw was pitching a no-hitter until the bottom of the fifth inning, when he gave up a single to Brandon Doyle to lead off the inning. He got Doyle to ground out to end the sixth, signaling to manager Dave Roberts that he wasn’t going to throw anymore. He only threw 79 pitches, but the sixth inning was his last.
Kershaw told local media, including the Los Angeles Times, “I just didn’t feel good in the sixth inning. “Obviously, I should have pitched longer and I don’t feel good about using up my bullpen for three innings. I just had to come down,” he explained.
Manager Dave Roberts said of Kershaw’s cues, “I saw his body language that he was running out of gas.”
“It didn’t matter the pitch count. He was up and down six times the altitude. He hadn’t pitched here (Coors Field) in almost a year. This year he’s been throwing hard and he’s already thrown a lot as a starter. Everything was a factor,” he said, emphasizing that the move was made to protect Kershaw. It was a sweltering 90 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 32 degrees Celsius, in Coors Field.
However, his health should be closely monitored. It’s not expected to be the same back issue that landed him on the disabled list twice last year. For now, Kershaw avoided an immediate answer, saying, “We’re going to get everything checked out. I’m not trying to be sneaky, I’m just trying to get it checked out and see what’s going on. Probably nothing special,” he said, emphasizing that it’s “nothing serious and I’m not going to miss my next start.”