Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw has had a disappointing 2018 in regards to injuries, to put it mildly. He missed almost all of May with bicep tendinitis then almost all of June with a back strain.
Kershaw has still been solid in his limited starts this season but has rarely seemed like the Kershaw of old. Fortunately for the Dodgers, they got vintage Kershaw against the San Diego Padres Monday night.
Kershaw cruised in six shutout innings against the Padres, striking out five while only allowing two hits and one walk. He threw 89 pitches, not his usual workload but still the most he has thrown since his first disabled list stint this year.
It is still not where Kershaw, known as a notorious perfectionist, would like to be. SportsNet LA cameras caught him visibly displeased when Dodgers manager Dave Roberts approached the ace after the sixth inning to let him know he was being pulled from the game.
However, Kershaw was still able to take plenty of positives away from his outing, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“It was a good day,” said Kershaw, as he held 3-year-old daughter Cali in his arms. “Definitely a step in the right direction. They were patient, got my pitch count up there, but for the most part, made some good pitches when I needed to.”
Kershaw is now 10-0 with a 0.89 ERA in his last 13 starts against San Diego. His biggest challenge of the night did not have to do with a skilled hitter but rather an old friend.
He faced ex-teammate and close friend A.J. Ellis for the first time in his career Monday. He retired Ellis in both of the catcher’s plate appearances, but called the experience ‘miserable’.
Kershaw’s fastball velocity averaged about 90.8 mph, per Statcast. That is still well below his career norm, but if he can continue dominating like he did Monday, that should not be much cause for concern.
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