Clayton Kershaw...despite not having won a Cy Young in a few years, and despite coming back from injuries for the third consecutive season...is still one of the best players in baseball.
The mechanics are still there. He still throws strikeouts like no one else, he's still insanely dominant on the mound, and his sheer presence in the LA rotation again has made the Dodgers a playoff threat yet again. It's another case of 'what I wouldn't give to see a full season of this', but the Dodgers also have enough good starting pitchers to make the absence of full-year Kershaw numbers a little easier to stomach.
Kenta Maeda, Alex Wood, Rich Hill, Walker Buehler...all of them are doing insanely well alongside Kershaw. Plus, Hyun-Jin Ryu comes back tonight, and hopefully his injury isn't taking away from his early-season numbers. The bullpen is a bit depleted by the absence of Kenley Jansen, but I imagine some precautions will be taken; besides, Dylan Floro is a nice bullpen arm.
The race for the Wild Card spot is thick, as the Rockies are ahead of the Dodgers in the standings, and the Dodgers have dropped their last few games. I don't especially think this is the end of the playoff push for the Dodgers, as they are borderline competitive this year. Plus, the WC race is gonna ebb and flow a ton more over the next few weeks, so...they still have a shot.
I mean, any team with Clayton Kershaw healthy on it has a bit more than a shot, but I digress.
Coming Tomorrow- How about this guy's rebound? I mean, on this specific AL East team it was bound to happen, but he's back to his old self...which is bad for the Yankees.
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