Clayton Kershaw isn’t young anymore, but he’s plenty great
Clayton Kershaw might be the young flamethrower he once was, but the Dodgers know they still have a great pitcher in their former first-round pick.
The Dodgers hit the jackpot when they selected Clayton Kershaw with the seventh overall pick back in the 2006 MLB Draft.
The Highland Park High School product was passed up on by six other teams and if any of those teams had a chance at a redo in that draft, it’s very likely they’d have taken Kershaw instead, now knowing what they know about him and how dominant he’s been.
Kershaw wasted no time in getting to the major leagues, shooting up the farm system and finding his way onto the Dodgers roster just two years later in the 2008 season at the ripe age of 20-years-old.
He was a big piece for the Dodgers that year, pitching 107.2 innings and posting an ERA of 4.26. LA reached the NLCS that year but ultimately were swept by the Phillies. Kershaw only pitched as a reliever during that series and allowed just one run during that time.
Once Los Angeles saw what they had with Kershaw, the hype was through the roof and the youngster delivered, at least in the regular season. He threw over 200+ innings from 2010 to 2013 and did it again in 2015 where he threw a career-high 232.2 innings.
While the innings haven’t been as high since that incredible 2015 season, Kershaw has still been fabulous. He’s made it to eight All-Star games, earned the ERA title five times, won three Cy Young awards, and been named MVP once. The only thing Kershaw hasn’t done is win a World Series, but he’s been to the Fall Classic twice.
The big knock on Kershaw, especially earlier on in his career, is that he can’t get it done in the postseason. He got past that hurdle when the Dodgers made it to the World Series in 2017 only to come up short against the Astros (did they really though?), but now he’s 32 years old and finding himself on the injured list more frequently than he’d like.
As the years have gone on, Kershaw has continued to show why the Dodgers felt he was worth taking with the seventh overall pick. His rookie season in 2008 is the only time Kershaw has posted an ERA over four and from 2009-2018, his ERA was under three every single year. Even last year, it was just a smidge over three, sitting at 3.03.
Kershaw was in line to make his ninth Opening Day start for the Dodgers, but landed on the injured list instead, where he still sits. The fact that he’s heading into his 13th year with the team who drafted him and is still their ace (at least for now) speaks volumes to how clutch Kershaw has been during his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Los Angeles has other talented options in their rotation such as Walker Buehler (who looked like he might usurp Kershaw as the team’s ace) and newbie Dustin May, who started in place of Kershaw, but when the big moments arrive for the Dodgers, it’s always Clayton Kershaw who the organization and the fans expect to step up and seize the moment.
Kershaw displayed just how good he is still last year, pitching 178.1 innings and making it to yet another All-Star Game after not making it the season prior. It’s not uncommon for pitchers to begin to falter once they’ve sustained multiple injuries, but time and time again, Kershaw proves people otherwise in that department.
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When Kershaw is able to return, he’ll have a stacked team around him and a short season to try and do what he does best. The Dodgers are the favorites to win the World Series this year (assuming they still can go on) and everyone wants to see Kershaw finally get that coveted World Series title and World Series ring after over a decade of chasing it.