Clayton Kershaw looks ready to win yet another Cy Young Award for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kershaw pitched against the Kansas City Royals on Sunday (July 9), taking the mound for the last time before the MLB All-Star break. This game was also the reason that he won’t be participating in the All-star Game, as Kershaw felt it was more important to help the Dodgers put one more game in the win column.
Kershaw went nine strong innings on the day, allowing just six hits on the way to his 14th win of the year. He didn’t walk any batters but posted 13 strikeouts to completely show off his domination of the Royals hitters.
Maybe more amazing than that was that it only took Kershaw 99 pitches (73 strikes) to pitch the complete game. That’s a remarkable stat for any start, let alone a nine-inning complete game.
What do Clayton Kershaw’s stats look like for the 2017 MLB season?
With the victory over the Kansas City Royals, Clayton Kershaw improved to 14-2 with a 2.18 ERA this year. Kershaw also has 159 strikeouts to his credit, showing that he is on a clear path to winning yet another Cy Young Award this season. It’s also possible that he could soon be passing his career-best for wins in a season. Kershaw won 21 games in the 2011 and 2014 seasons, winning a Cy Young Award for his efforts each time.
It won’t be long before the experts are talking about Clayton Kershaw making his way to Cooperstown for a Hall of Fame induction.
He now has a regular season record of 140-62 to go with an ERA just above 2.30 and more than 2,000 strikeouts in his career. Those are mind-boggling numbers that rank with the best pitchers who have ever played the game. It may be a number of years after his retirement when the regular baseball fan starts to realize his greatness.
Who is the biggest competition to Kershaw winning another Cy Young?
In the updated Cy Young Predictor from ESPN, Clayton Kershaw is the odds-on favorite to win the award this year. He is followed by Max Scherzer, Kenley Jansen, Alex Wood, and Zack Greinke in those rankings. It’s an interesting coincidence that Jansen and Wood are current teammates, while Greinke used to pitch for the Dodgers.
In comparison, Max Scherzer has a 10-5 record with a 2.10 ERA and 173 strikeouts for the Washington Nationals this season. He too has been putting together a stellar season.
There are a lot of games left in the 2017 MLB season, with a lot of time for things to shift. As it stands, though, Kershaw might be starting to pull away in the overall rankings for the Cy Young Award. Despite all his regular season accolades and the spectacular season he is putting up again, Kershaw is going to need to find some postseason success if he really wants people to take notice of his career. It doesn’t hurt Clayton Kershaw that Cody Bellinger has also emerged as a top player in the league, as the duo could be helping raise a World Series banner for the Los Angeles Dodgers very soon.
