Clayton Kershaw Case Study

Clayton Kershaw has been the best pitcher in the league up until he got injured with a lower back injury. He has a 1.79 ERA which leads the league, a 16.1 strikeout to walk ratio, and 0.73 WHIP. Before the injury he was the presumptive NL Cy Young Award winner and in the running for NL MVP, but this injury might derail one of his best years yet. Kershaw pitched a simulated game last Saturday and this gave a lot of people hope, until Dave Roberts announced that Kershaw didn’t feel good after the game. There was no original timetable when Kershaw first got injured and now that he has hit a setback, that timetable must be even longer than originally believed. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, this is not the only pitcher they have on the DL. With Kershaw are starting pitchers Alex Wood, Brett Anderson, and Hyun-Jin Ryu. Even with all these pitchers on the DL, the Dodgers have been able to stay 10 games above .500. This is due in part because of the acquisition of Bud Norris and Brandon McCarthy’s return from the DL. Clayton Kershaw’s injury doesn’t just mean missing your favorite pitcher

The Dodgers are by no means playing poorly or even looking bad without Kershaw, it just seems like without him, they won’t be able to stay in contention. I think if the rest of the team can continue doing what they are doing and the offense picks up, they are looking good for a postseason position. Something that might also aid the Dodgers will be adding another pitcher before the trade deadline, but that is only if they are willing to deal a few prospects for a player like Julio Teheran or Rich Hill. If all goes as planned and the Dodgers stay afloat, grab a pitcher before the trade deadline, and get some guys off the DL, they are defiantly looking like a contender going into the