Last Friday night, I sat with 54,451 other baseball fans watching the Dodgers shut out the Atlanta Braves in Game-2 of the 2018 National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium. In that game, Clayton Kershaw threw a two-hitter over eight shutout innings, while only throwing 83 pitches, 63 of which he threw for strikes. It was, in every sense of the word, vintage Clayton Kershaw.

From his first pitch to his last, which was only 85 through his eight innings of work last Friday night, Kershaw was in complete control. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

But lost in all the excitement of that huge Dodgers win to give them a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series, a milestone was missed by most Dodger fans.

Prior to Kershaw’s start that night, Chicago Cubs left-hander Jon Lester led the MLB with most postseason innings pitched over the last six seasons at 112 combined innings pitched. Yet at the end of Friday evening, Kershaw had surpassed him with a combined 114. 2 innings pitched over his last six postseason, yet no one was talking about this.

The most shocking thing in looking at Kershaw’s pitching line on Friday was that he only had three strikeouts, two of which came in the eighth inning. This got me thinking, have we forgotten how great Clayton Kershaw really is?

Kershaw is a seven-time All-Star, three-time NL Cy Young award winner, a Triple Crown winner, a Gold Glove winner, a five-time ERA leader, a former NL MVP, a three-time NL strikeout leader, and came within a Hanley Ramirez throwing error of tossing the 24th perfect game in MLB history during his no-hitter on June 18, 2014.

Kershaw’s no-hitter on June 18, 2014 was the 25th in Dodgers franchise history. Were it not for Hanley Ramirez’s throwing error on a routine ground ball in the top of the seventh inning, it would have been the second perfect game in Dodgers history and the 24th in MLB history.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

While all these accolades should define a pitcher as great and, in fact, all but guarantee him baseball immortality in the sacred Halls of Cooperstown, each October Kershaw’s pitching becomes the subject of many sports headlines and countless memes.

The Dodgers have played into October in the last six consecutive seasons, and we would be remiss to think Kershaw has not played a major role in getting the team there, or that this has not taken a toll on his body.

Kershaw has made 25 appearances in the postseason, including five in relief. Eleven out of twenty of his postseason starts have been quality starts. If we look at his numbers since 2016 in the playoffs, Clayton is 6-1 with one save and a 3.58 ERA in 12 appearances and 10 starts. Over the last two postseasons, he is 4-0 with a 3.07 ERA.

So why does this make Clayton Kershaw great, you ask? Check this out:

In 2016 Kershaw was on the disabled list for two months with herniated disk. In 2017 he missed five weeks with a lower back strain. And this past season, he was on the 10-day DL with left bicep tendinitis. Yet through it all, he still found ways to win and improve his record.

There is no argument that Kershaw’s once 97-mph-ish fastball velocity is not what it used to be. There is also no argument that with the technological advances available to today’s hitters, they are able to adapt much quicker and, as such, have become far more aggressive in attacking the 11-year MLB veteran early in the count.

But in spite of this, in his brilliant outing last Friday night, he yet again showed naysayers that he still continues to evolve as pitcher and that he still finds ways to win, even if he’s not the Kershaw with 10+ strikeouts that we used to see every time he took the mound … and that is what makes Clayton Kershaw great.

Kershaw’s competitiveness and diligence to maintain a consistent routine, which never varies, has made him one of the best the game has ever seen. Most of us fondly remember the phrase “There’s your run, Kersh,” often heard during his earlier starts when run support seemed scarce. As the now 30-year-old Dallas, Texas native continues to adapt his pitching style and adjust to the game, I can only hope we are able to use the plural form of this phrase and say “There’s your runs, Kersh” this October.

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Author’s Note: A special thanks to FOX, ESPN and Dodgers statistician Rick Krajewski (@Rick_K21) for sharing his insane statistical knowledge with me for this article.

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Editor’s Note: ThinkBlueLA.com is honored to welcome Kendrea Leroy to our writing staff. Kendrea is a lifelong Dodger fan and long time Dodgers season ticket holder. She currently resides in Bakersfield, California and readily acknowledges that her work often interferes with her love of game and the Dodgers.

Like many Dodger fans, Kendrea grew up at Dodger Stadium, attending games with her father, who frequently reminded her as a child not to read Tommy Lasorda’s lips on television broadcasts.