Kershaw Inspires Greatness Around Him

Remember that old cliché that offenses don’t need to try as hard when their ace is on the mound?  I seem to recall this being spouted a lot when Roger Clemens pitched.  The theory was that somehow his teammates, professional baseball players, were so in awe of his awesomeness that they just coasted on the idea that they’d win 1-0.  This, of course, is completely absurd.  But let’s pretend that this phenomenon is true for a second, because if it were then Clayton Kershaw is single-handedly destroying that myth.  The Dodgers have scored him 4.28 runs per game in 2011.  The National League average is 4.15 runs per game this season.  This means that somehow the Dodgers actually become a better than average offense when Kershaw is on the mound.  

                Meanwhile, the Dodgers have managed just 2.93 runs per game for hard luck Hiroki Kuroda, and their overall season average is just 3.63, better than only the Giants in the senior circuit.  What does all this mean?  Well, nothing really.  But interesting facts nonetheless.  If anything it just increases our desire to see Clayton Kershaw cloned nine or ten times. 

                Oh, and Kershaw pitched today.  He went 8 innings, allowed zero runs, struck out 6 and walked none.  And the Dodgers scored 5 runs in their 5-1 victory over the Brewers, after only scoring two runs in the previous three games combined.   Barajas contributed a solo homerun, Carroll, Miles and Rivera all contributed RBI hits, and Kemp (despite striking out three times) added to his (longshot) MVP credentials by singling, stealing second (his 33^rd) and scoring a run. 

                The real story though is Kershaw.  We all had high hopes for him as soon as he was drafted.  He hasn’t disappointed in the slightest, and seems to get better with every start he makes.  His one Achilles Heel was his high walk rate, and he’s cut that down drastically (2.4 walks per 9). 

                Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts breaks down his chances at the Cy Young Award this season.  As Jon says, Halladay is probably the favorite, but the award is hardly out of reach for Clayton.  And if not this year, I think it’s fairly safe to say he should be in the running for years to come.