By Josh:
Today’s start for Clayton Kershaw against the Chicago Cubs isn’t going to make or break his career. Whether he wins or not, he is still going to be seen as an extremely talented and dominate pitcher. With that being said he needs to pitch a good game and show that he can step it up when the stakes are highest.
Baseball fans know that over the past six years Kershaw has been the best pitcher in the regular season. His 3 Cy Young awards, a 2nd place and a 3rd place finish in the Cy Young voting prove that. The postseason has been another story for Kershaw. He has struggled and has marked him as a pitcher who doesn’t step it up in the playoffs.
Today’s game will impact his legacy. If Kershaw comes out and struggles it will all but cement his legacy as a dominate pitcher who becomes average during the playoffs. It won’t block him from making the Hall of Fame but it will limit the discussion as to just how good he was in the history of the game.
If Kershaw comes out and dominates the Cubs, like he did in his last start, it could be what he needs to not only prove he can come up big in the playoffs, but it might also be the boost the Dodgers need to make the World Series. A World Series title would eliminate a lot of the talk of Kershaw’s struggles and would place him where he belongs amongst the greats of all time.
Kershaw is only 28 years old, and his 128 wins and 2.37 career ERA in the regular season is well on pace for the Hall of Fame. So even though a bad game today won’t ruin all of his chances of doing better in the future, it would continue a pattern that hasn’t been positive in the playoffs. Kershaw and the Dodgers need to win this game, this series and the World Series to set their place in history as more than just a regular season team, but a championship team.