Clayton Kershaw broke into the league with the Dodgers way back in 2008. In that time, he’s been one of the best pitchers in the game, if not of all time, with a peak likened to that of Hall of Fame Dodger lefty Sandy Koufax.
But in what is his age 31 season, the big Texan lefty has lost plenty of velocity off his fastball and consequently plenty of strikeouts off his peak numbers. His ERA ballooned above 3.00 for the first time since his rookie season. Clayton dropped his ERA below three in last night’s start.
And most notably, Kershaw has had fewer dominant starts.