3 reasons the Dodgers need Clayton Kershaw healthy to upset Cubs

The best pitcher on the planet, Clayton Kershaw, is nearing a return to the Dodgers. He must be healthy for the Dodgers to have a shot at upsetting the Cubs.

Clayton Kershaw has been on the disabled list since June due to a back injury. He was in the midst of a historic season when he hit the shelf, as he was on his way to another sub-2.00 ERA season, and had struck out an eye-popping 145 batters against only nine walks. The left-hander has missed two full months of the season, and is still in the top 10 for pitcher WAR according to Baseball-Reference.

Kershaw’s back has improved, and he made his first rehab start, allowing only one hit in three innings while striking out five. Next, he expects to be back with the Dodgers in four to five days and he looked sharp in mowing through his Single-A opponent. If the Dodgers are going to have any chance of preventing the first Chicago Cubs World Series win since 1908, No. 22 will have to be firing on all cylinders when he returns to the big leagues.

Here are the top-three reasons Kershaw must be healthy for the Dodgers to have any hopes of being the team to topple the Cubs.

It makes everyone else’s job easier

Assuming the Dodgers are able to get by their first-round opponent (as the standings currently sit, the Dodgers would square off against the Washington Nationals in the NLDS, with the Cubs playing the winner of the wild-card game), their chances of bouncing the Cubs depend heavily on stealing at least one game when Jake Arrieta is on the mound. Matching up Kershaw against Arrieta instead of Rich Hill or Kenta Maeda gives the Dodgers a much better chance to steal at least one of those games. The Dodgers could also choose to shuffle their rotation to match Kershaw up against Jon Lester or Kyle Hendricks.

The presence of Clayton Kershaw also helps to provide some sense of stability for a Dodgers rotation that has dealt with an almost incomprehensible amount of injuries this season. At the time of this writing, Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy, Brett Anderson, and Hyun-jin Ryu are all on the disabled list with varying degrees of uncertainty. The team traded for Rich Hill at the trade deadline, and his blister problems could pop up again at any time. Rookies Julio Urias and Jose De Leon are being pushed, but expected them to play crucial roles in a playoff series is tough.

Clayton Kershaw is a big equalizer in a playoff series, and if he can be used three times in a seven-game series to create the best matchups for the rest of the rotation, the Dodgers’ chances of winning go up exponentially. It’s a huge task for a number-two or three starter to take down Arrieta, but Kershaw is more than up to the task. Postseason series often hinge on a team being able to knock off their opponent’s ace, and Kershaw is the only pitcher in the Dodgers rotation who can do that.