We Feel For You, Clayton!
I feel somewhat incredulous about the responses regarding Clayton Kershaw yesterday. I am not going to quote what many said word-for-word, but I am going to say that I don’t buy it. Many of you are talking like Clayton is just finished, and we should just accept that. To make…
I feel somewhat incredulous about the responses regarding Clayton Kershaw yesterday. I am not going to quote what many said word-for-word, but I am going to say that I don’t buy it. Many of you are talking like Clayton is just finished, and we should just accept that. To make that assumption, you simply have to ignore the facts, so I am going to serve them up for your consideration. Clayton Kershaw started 24 games this season and went 13-5 with a 2.46 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. He allowed 100 hits in 132 IP. The league hit .209 against him. He also struck out 137 batters. He was 2nd in ERA in the NL to Blake Snell.. He was an All-Star. Does that sound like a pitcher who is done?
“But he hurt his shoulder and was not the same when he came back!” I knew you would say that! Just like I knew a certain someone would stick up for his boy, James Outman, at the expense of the facts. I will discuss that later. Yes, Clayton missed a couple of months with an undisclosed shoulder injury, but in his last seven games, he was 3-1 with a 2.30 ERA (1.18 WHIP). He allowed 21 hits in 31 IP while striking out 28. He did walk 16 batters, which was a concern, but in his last start against San Francisco on September 30th, he pitched five innings, allowing two runs, and struck out five.
A month earlier, he also faced the Diamondbacks and also went five innings, allowing three hits and one earned run. Yes, he was not the same pitcher he was earlier in the season. The Dodgers were not counting on him to be any more than a “glorified opener,” going two, three, or four innings. He has shown that he is capable of that, and that was all they were asking, but he couldn’t deliver.
It wasn’t his velocity. In the eight games since he came back from the IL, his fastball was in the 86-89 MPH range. On Saturday, his fastball was in the 89-91 MPH range – he was actually throwing harder. It was his slider at 86-87 MPH (not enough separation from the fastball) and curve that was killing him. I think the problem was that Clayton was trying to be the Clayton of old instead of staying within himself and pitching as he did since his IL stint! He was trying to do too much.
Now, back to the Outman thing. Let me make it clear that I am in no way blaming James Outman for the loss. However, he had two balls that could have been caught with a high degree of difficulty. The one ball he did touch, and he even said that he should have caught it. He did not touch the other one, but he also said he was nervous and did not get a good jump on it. To think that it is a “reach” is beyond silly. If he had caught the ball that hit his glove, Clayton would have had double the outs that he did. He would have likely felt a little less “pressure” in knowing that his teammates had his back. Of course, it made a difference. Again, I know that James Outman is not a great centerfielder… probably not even the best one on the team, but this is not about “blame” – it is just about reality, and the reality is, “Even Ray Charles can see that!”
The Game 1 loss was a team loss because no one picked Clayton up. The Dodgers did not hit, pitch, or field, and Clayton bears the brunt of it, but tonight, they can right the ship. Last year, they won the first game and then got swept! Clayton will likely start Game 4, and even two innings will be great. Yes, he is not the pitcher he once was, and I believe that he needs shoulder and TJ surgery, but this is the hand he is given. Hopefully, the next start, he will not try and do too much.
Is Bobby Miller Ready to be the Ace?
He better be… We shall see!
Hopefully, Will Smith can stay hot!
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Discussion (107)
Disagree, not disagreeable
In two starts at Dodger Stadium this year, Zac Gallen has pitched 10 innings, given up 15 hits, 6 walks and 11 runs. Have to feel a little optimistic about the outcome.
Glad I didn’t watch. Was taking a late nap, and didn’t check the score until it was 9-0. At that point…
I guess if you’d told me before the season that the Dodgers would have the rotation issues they’ve had (partially thanks to Julio), I’d be happy just to be in the playoffs. Before the season I figured they’d win 88-90 games. I don’t know if CK is done or not. It may be a non-issue for now, if Miller, the game 3 pitchers, and the offense don’t turn this around. If we’re up 2-1 (I can hope) then let CK go in game 4, but if they’re down 2-1 I think I’d rather see a bullpen game. Maybe CK’s pride and innate skill could see us through.
My friend, Elden who is the only other Dodger fan I know up here in the Green Mountains, claims that October in Vermont means fall foliage and the Dodgers getting eliminated in the playoffs. Hope he’s wrong.
* Those damn Nazis sure got around Matt
* It was tough to watch Kershaw give up 6 and not complete an inning. Pretty much a must win tonight for Bobby Miller. Losing the first two games gives an 11% chance to win that series. Certainly not impossible but a steep hill to climb on the road.
* The questions linger about the advantage / disadvantage of having 5 days off for the Division winners. And to make matters more interesting. the Dodgers had a day off following their egg laying on Saturday. The Division winners try anything to stay sharp but they can’t seem to find a way using scrimmages with fans, sim games.
Smoltz and Davis discussed it last night. Joe said he thinks teams will eventually figure it out. But I don’t know it there is a solution under the current format. I don’t know if there’s a way to can keep a team sharp while the competition is playing competitive games.
Smoltz made an interesting point that the the Wildcard winners need to be more “punished” for being a wildcard team. And the Division winners need to be more rewarded. He suggested, don’t give the Wildcard winner days rest after the Wildcard rounds to reset their pitching before playing the Division champs. It’s a perplexing question – rest vs rust.
All I know it that last year Houston was the only Division winner to not get knocked off and it’s started out that way this post season.
What ?
Was it over when the Germans Bombed Pearl Harbor!?!?!?
If the offense doesn’t get a lasting fire lit under their ass it’s all mute anyway
Yes I agree clay pulled off a minor miracle with the performance he had this regular season stat wise with a worm out arm and bum shoulder and all but can’t compare regular season to playoffs with its ratcheted up intensity. He looked worse then terrible. I truly don’t think it’s a good baseball decision to put him back out in this short five game series and maybe I’m just selfish in that I fear the hurt in possibly seeing one of my heroes get beat down again with the series and season on the line. I’m still hoping he decides his shoulder is to sore because to not start him in favor of someone else could hurt chemistry. I’m sorry mark that it really bothers me to see one of my top three all time favorites get beat down like that
Winter priority, pitching, pitching and more pitching.
All year starting pitching was a problem. So we won 100 games because of bullpen and HITTING. Sounds simple. We need to score some runs. If we fall short it will because of hitting
Let’s not forget what just one key hit can do:
Who will step up?
Your mindset as a hitter changes when you are down 6-0 that’s just human nature. Even worse when you go down 9-0.
These guys are humans not robots. I fully expect a different outcome tonight, but no its NOT a must win. Its not like Arizon has a HFA. Its Dodger Stadium East. Who is the Dbacks #3, Pfaadt?? Win that game and the momentum shifts way back to LA.
I certainly want to win tonight (and believe we will) but I wont throw in the towel if we do lose and neither will the players.
Need Mookie and or Freddie to be special tonight!
Hopefully Miller has some junkyard Walker Buehler in him! Wasn’t just Kersh who let us down in game one. Time for the bats to wake up or go home once again! I want to see some fire tonight!
I totally agree. No one knows how things might have been had Outman made the catch. But he didn’t. What happened afterwards was all on Kersh. He hung too many pitches, IE, they were very hittable. The Dodgers, who by all accounts beat Merrill Kelly like a drum, couldn’t even hit a loud fly ball off of him. Cmon guys, this pitcher was 0-5 with a plus 7 ERA at Dodger Stadium and they made him look like Gerritt Cole. 0-11 lifetime and you can’t score off of this guy? His teammates did not pick him up. How much different might things have been had they scored a couple of runs in the bottom of the first? The top six in the lineup went 2-20! Betts, Freeman, Muncy, Martinez, and Heyward were all ofer. Smith had the only two hits. The other two hits came from Peralta and Rojas. SO, what it boils down to now is this is a must win game. They go to Arizona down 2-0, and this series is over.