Although we were taught as youngsters to ‘Never put the cart in front of the horse’ and learned in our early days as baseball fans that billed premier pitching match-ups rarely lived up to their expectations, it is impossible … absolutely impossible not to get excited about Friday night’s much-anticipated match-up between Dodgers ace, four-time Cy Young award winner and 2014 NL MVP Clayton Kershaw and Diamondbacks ace, 2009 AL Cy Young award winner and three-time Gold Glover Zack Greinke at Dodger Stadium.

Although once close teammates, these two fierce competitors will have only one thing on their minds on Friday night when they square off against each other – winning.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

From a 2017 statistical standpoint, Kershaw is 1-1 with a 3.46 ERA and Greinke 1-0 with a 2.31 ERA. But from a career standpoint, the upcoming contest is far more exciting than the early returns from this season.

In 265 career starts (and two non-starts) over 10 MLB seasons, Kershaw is 127-61 for a remarkable .676 winning percentage and an impossible 2.38 career ERA. But what really stands out about the 29-year-old Dallas, Texas native are his 1,932 career strikeouts compared to his 477 walks – a K/BB ratio of 4.05.

In contrast, Greinke has made 351 starts (and 41 non-starts) over 14 MLB seasons with a career mark of 156-100 record for an equally impressive .609 winning percentage and a 3.41 ERA. The 33-year-old Orlando, Florida native has struck out 2,031 (99 more than Kershaw in four more seasons) while walking 551 for a K/BB ratio of 3.69.

As most Dodger fans know, Greinke had an injury-plagued 2016 season, his first with the Dbacks since opting out of his enormous six-year / $147 million contract with the Dodgers after the 2015 season. But even at that, Greinke still made 26 starts, posting a very impressive 16-7 record and 4.37 ERA.

But Kershaw also spent time on the disabled list in 2016 yet finished the season having made 21 starts in which he went 12-4 with an insane 1.69 ERA that still earned him a fifth-place finish in the 2016 Cy Young award voting.

Speaking of money, Kershaw is currently in the fourth year of his seven-year / $215 million contract and is making $33 million this season, while Greinke is in the second year of his six-year / $206.5 million contract and is making $31 million this season. This means that Friday night’s contest between Kershaw and the 5-4 (third-place) Dodgers and Greinke and the 7-3 (first-place) Dbacks will be the single-most expensive pitching match-up in MLB history.

But regardless of how Friday night’s game ends up, it is unquestionably the match-up we have been anxiously awaiting, and you can expect plenty of fireworks … both during the game and afterwards.