Vintage Clayton Kershaw flirts with perfection

Clayton Kershaw showed on Wednesday there is still some life left in his arm as he threw seven perfect innings in Minnesota for the Dodgers.

Clayton Kershaw’s first start of his comeback tour wasn’t just great, it was perfect.

Kershaw, making his season debut on Wednesday afternoon in Minnesota, retired all 21 Twins batters he faced. He had the Twins flailing away at his slider all afternoon as he racked up 13 strikeouts in seven innings. The only thing that resembled hard contact was a ground ball by Gio Urshela in the seventh, but Gavin Lux, playing the shift behind second base, easily fielded it for the out.

Kershaw sent a message after a 2021 season that ended prematurely: he was back to his old self. He induced 17 swings and misses on his slider, tied for the third-most of any start in his career. It was only the third time in his 377 starts he had carried a perfect game into the seventh inning, and the first since 2015. He had never gone beyond that before Wednesday.

Then came a decision by Dave Roberts that will be debated for the rest of Kershaw’s career and Roberts’ tenure as Dodgers manager. With Kershaw at 80 pitches through seven innings, Roberts lifted him for reliever Alex Vesia. Kershaw’s chance of becoming only the 22nd pitcher in modern MLB history to throw a perfect game was gone. The combined perfect game was gone when Vesia gave up a one-out single to Gary Sanchez in the eighth.

The decision, from a pure baseball standpoint, is understandable. Clayton Kershaw missed more than two months last season with a left elbow injury before returning for four games in September and October. He left his last start with forearm discomfort and missed the Dodgers postseason run. He threw only 11 innings during spring training. Now 34 years old and 15 years into his MLB career, Roberts didn’t want to push Kershaw beyond what his arm was able to go.

But, from a historical perspective, it robbed the 17,000 fans at Target Field and Dodgers fans watching at home of witnessing the one accomplishment missing from his Cooperstown-bound resume. In 2014, Kershaw missed a perfect game only by a seventh-inning error, throwing his only career no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies. He would’ve joined another Dodgers legendary left-hander, Sandy Koufax, as the only pitchers in franchise history to throw a perfect game.

Clayton Kershaw and Dodgers not concerned with individual achievements

He seemed fine with that. Kershaw embraced his teammates in the dugout coming off the field after the seventh inning and still had a smile on his face. At this point in his career, after nearly every individual accolade he could possibly get, only one thing matters to Kershaw and the Dodgers: a second World Series ring.

“At the end of the day, those are individual things. Those are selfish goals, and we’re trying to win,” Clayton Kershaw told Sportsnet LA after the game. “That’s really all we’re here for. As much as I would’ve wanted to do it, I’ve thrown 75 pitches in a sim game, and I hadn’t gone six innings, let alone seven. Sure, I would’ve loved to do it. But maybe I’ll get another chance. Who knows?”

A cold afternoon in Minnesota isn’t the most important game the Dodgers will play this season. Roberts had a plan for Kershaw, and he stuck to it, perhaps even letting him go further into the game than he originally wanted. Having Kershaw around in October is all that matters for the Dodgers.

And this Kershaw, pitching like his old self, would be an incredible bonus to a team with World Series aspirations. Kershaw got the Twins to chase 11 sliders out of the zone for swinging strikes. Only 10 of the 41 he threw went for a ball. His pitches were moving, his location impeccable. Twins batters looked lost at the plate.

It was just like old times. There is still some fire in that worn left arm of his. Kershaw may not have thrown a perfect game, but he was as good as he’s ever been. Roberts and the Dodgers, a year after it seemed like Kershaw would never be the same, will take it.

Even if it means preserving him for when the games matter the most.