22 or 33?

 

If there's one thing I can't be bothered to be quizzed on in terms of MLB lore, it's numbers. It is...so hard for me to remember uniform numbers that aren't Yankees. Like, okay, I know, Maris is greater than Mantle but less than Rodriguez, and there's the occasional one like #20 for the Phils or #34 for the Jays, but a lot of them are lost on me.

I know #22 though. I dunno how many Dodgers are gonna wear it ever again. 

Clayton Kershaw, the #22 in question, has come across that number in various forms across his now-16-year career. At 22 years old, he had his first great season, sporting a 5.6 WAR with 212 strikeouts and a 2.91 ERA. He also broke twenty wins two times, finishing with 21 wins twice, though not quite getting one more. His career walk-per-9 ratio is 2.2, his career balk total is only 22, and as I write this post he is sitting on 202 career wins. 

Yet 22 has been a more dubious stat for Kershaw in the last few years, as since lengthened seasons resumed post-2020, Kershaw has annually made only 22 appearances, down from his old standard of starting all 33. As a matter of fact, the last time Kershaw made it through a season without missing a start due to injury was in 2015, back when his battery-mates were Zach Greinke, Brett Anderson and Mike Bolsinger. And that, admittedly, was Kershaw's age-27 season. It is important to note that one of Kershaw's Cy Young awards, and the MVP, came at a season where he only appeared in 27 games. So it's not really a must-have for Kershaw to finish the season to be truly great. But the fact that almost a decade of his career has been plagued by injuries, even if the first half was incredible, is upsetting.

And I don't think it's a Pujols or Griffey style drop-off, because Kershaw has been fantastic in the last 8 seasons. Even in the injury years, he's 88-33 with a 2.56 ERA and 1109 Ks, so the ability level hasn't gone down, he's just been unlucky. Even last year, though the injury vivisected his season, he still pitched at his usual levels, going 12-3 with a 2.28 ERA.

So it doesn't shock me that so far, Kershaw has been fantastic this year, with a 5-2 record, a 2.53 ERA and 48 strikeouts. Unlike, say Jacob deGrom, the injuries and setbacks have done nothing to dull the overall abilities of Kershaw, and I can still confidently call him one of the best in the game, even as his contemporaries take more money for vanity contracts for teams where they probably won't have much success. 

The Dodgers have been doing a lot better than they were in April, and look to command the division going forward. The rotation was already doing well enough, and they just got Gonsolin back, while the lineup has been greatly aided by James Outman. I think this team might get some stuff done after all, but I'd be careful with those Padres, as you never know when they'll come to life.

I'd absolutely love Clayton Kershaw to start all 33 games this year. I don't know if he can, but I'd love to see him do it one more time.

Coming Tomorrow- Last year a good friend of mine from college became a baseball fan, and to this day this guy is still his favorite player. He picked a good one.