Stay Healthy, Please: The Clayton Kershaw Thread

I like looking up mismatched odds. You have to bet $375 on Kershaw today to win $100. That's about as long as baseball odds ever get--I guess Kershaw vs. the Braves would be even longer.

he's sposed to pitch vs Bartolo (again) in NY next Sunday night, which means there should be some decent tix available due to the time switch

(ok, not as many as there wd be on a non-holiday weekend)

not as many as there were when i bought in anticipation 3 weeks ago

wow kudos

maddux alert through 8

https://twitter.com/SamMillerBP/status/734966240888819712

Obviously a little giddy and premature, but I love this:

•In five May starts, he has had more shutouts (three) than walks (two).

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/180219652/clayton-kershaw-goat-may-2016-dodgers?partnerId=ed-10369488-658620023

his k/bb ratio rn is 100/5 o_o

10 ks and no walks in 7.2 IP and who gets the win? adam liberatore, who blew a save in seven pitches.

this has been your daily outrage over something no one cares about anymore

https://twitter.com/BillPetti/status/737280851524911105

I was messing around last night with a six-year peak (consecutive seasons) comparison between some recent pitchers--I didn't write anything down, but I think it was Pedro first, Kershaw or Maddux second, Johnson and Seaver and Clemens behind them.

Years and years of research here:

http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/t427/sayhey1/pitchers_zpso9ar9u74.jpg

In honor of Adam Liberatore, I included wins and losses.

Seaver was hurt in '74--I should have gone '68-72 for him:

100-53, 2.38, 147+, 1.030, 3.52.

With that in mind, I'd rank them 1) Pedro, 2) Kershaw/Maddux, 4) Johnson, 5) Clemens/Seaver.

Aargh--let's try Seaver again, '68-73:

119-63, 2.32, 151+, 1.021, 3.58.

Same ranking.

At home, against Atlanta, opposing pitcher 1-6 with an ERA near 6.00. Dodgers won last night, the Braves have lost two in a row. Betting $100 on Atlanta wins $400+. If I could, I would make that bet--the set-up is just too perfect.

Just for fun--my own--Kershaw's line minus his one bad start against Miami:

Games started - 12
W/L - 9-0
Team W/L - 12-0
QS - 12
Average game score - 77
IP - 93.2
R - 13
ER - 12
H - 53
BB - 5
K - 112
ERA - 1.15
WHIP - 0.622
K/BB - 22.40

@McCulloughTimes
Clayton Kershaw is being flown back to Los Angeles to see team doctors.

Stay healthy, please.

ffs please

at least it's a sore back, to counterpoint the trendy arm apocalypses.

got an epidural(?!), going on the DL

:( hope the birth goes well stay strong little kersh jr

‏@McCulloughTimes
Dave Roberts initially said the team hoped Kershaw would be back after the break, but then he backed off that. May be a little longer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3TuOQkN7e0

@McCulloughTimes
Clayton Kershaw "didn't feel great" on Sunday, Dave Roberts said. He's shut down until his back pain goes away. His return? "Uncertain."

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/17108426/clayton-kershaw-los-angeles-dodgers-shut-due-continuing-back-pain

SMH

Out until at least Aug. 27.

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/dodgers-ace-clayton-kershaw-moved-to-60-day-dl-080316

I'd shut him down for the year, but they're close enough in the standings to complicate that.

The starting pitching is doing very well without him iirc

Looks like he's close to returning:

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/196718316/clayton-kershaw-throws-bullpen-session/

I'd say it's amazing that the Dodgers have taken over first in his absence, except it's an old story: everyone--GMs, writers, fans, me--tends to over-value the importance of one player. (Truer for pitchers, but holds for position players too.)

hasn't pitched in 8 weeks and leads NL pitchers in both kinds of WAR. nuts.

3-inning start for Rancho Cucamonga today

great job Kersh! said he's gonna start for LA in 4 games

If he goes Friday and continues to take his regular turn, he'll have five more starts. I could see where his Cy Young case is still strong if he pitches well, but I think all the calendar time missed would point to Scherzer or Bumgarner. It could be a little like the year Josh Hamilton missed the last month of the season; he held on to the MVP, but I don't Kershaw will.

Will become the second-fastest to 2,000 K tonight (after Randy Johnson). So not the second-youngest--I did a double-take at first. I'm guessing Seaver, Clemens, and Blyleven got there younger. Maybe Ryan, too; he got a bit of a late start, though. And the war probably interrupted Feller.

No Seaver, no Clemens--very surprised.

http://groundballwitheyes.blogspot.ca/2015/05/youngest-pitchers-to-reach-2000.html

every time i see this thread title in my bookmarks my heart skips a beat

Scherzer's just a couple of points from overtaking Kershaw on Bill James's "#1 Starting Pitcher Rankings" (it's all based on Game Scores, includes postseason play, and is a year-over-year running ranking):

1. Clayton Kershaw - 589.4
2. Max Scherzer - 587.2
3. Chris Sale - 557
4. Corey Kluber - 537.5
5. Madison Bumgarner - 531

4 walks for kershaw tonight. he hasn't looked quite right this year
― k3vin k., Saturday, May 6, 2017 11:17 PM (one month ago)

Having a great year, but I think you were onto something there. 7-0 lead tonight, proceeded to give up three HR; that's 16 for the year, tying his career high before the break.

make that 4

how the fuck did he give up 2 to Reyes?

cheap 6-ER win for CK.

past calendar year:

kershaw: 137.1 IP, 3.5 fWAR
jansen: 69.1 IP, 3.7 fWAR

Got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first, great after that.

Overall, definitely his shakiest year in a while. Going through his game log, though, he's only had the one (really) cheap win last week; every other win was 7+ innings, 0, 1, or 2 runs. There was one cheap no-decision (4.1 innings, 4 runs), and he wasn't good in either loss (6 innings and 4 runs in both). His other two no-decisions he pitched well (16 innings, 2 runs).

It wouldn't be accurate to say the gaudy W-L record is a mirage--reverse the cheap win, call the no-decisions a wash, and he'd be 10-3.

It's the home runs that have killed him this year (leading to his worst FIP since 2010 by a big margin). Everything else is right in line with 2011-2013 Kershaw, if not always the last three seasons.

he's 93-0 when dodgers give him at least 4 runs of support

Wanted to get some context for that, but Baseball Reference breaks down pitcher's starts by 0-2 runs of support, 3-5, and 6+. Anyway, with 6+:

Clemens: 179-5
Johnson: 160-11
Pedro: 105-3
Maddux: 173-10

Am I reading that correctly? All of them got six or more runs of support in half their wins? That seems really high.

all of them played half their careers in the steroid era

It's almost like there's something flawed with the Win statistic ;)

I knew I was teeing one up there...Had no idea the percentage was that high, though. Era would explain some of that, yeah; I also wonder if that includes runs scored for the entire game, i.e. any runs scored after the pitcher leaves. So a guy could leave with a 2-1 lead in the seventh, his team scores four runs in the eighth/ninth, and it ends up looking like he won a blowout.

Since his terrible start against the Cubs:

36 IP, 22 H, 51 K, 6 BB, 2 ER.

pretty sure that includes 4 shutouts in his last 5 outings (incl one stretch of 3 in a row!) i think maybe you mean against the mets, clem, when he gave up 3 or 4 homers june 19