Clayton Kershaw (35) of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the professional baseball major league is enjoying his second prime.
The MLB Secretariat announced on the morning of the 4th (Korean time) that Kershaw was selected as the National League Pitcher of the Month for April. Kershaw was named Pitcher of the Month for the first time in seven years since May 2016, and received the Pitcher of the Month award for the seventh time in his personal career. Kershaw had an outstanding record of 5 wins and 1 loss with an ERA of 1.89 (8 earned runs in 38 innings) in 6 appearances for a month in April. On April 19, he achieved the long-awaited 200th win with 3 hits and 9 strikeouts in 7 innings of a home game against the New York Mets. 200 wins is the fourth among active players after New York Mets Justin Verlander (40, 244 wins), Kansas City Royals Jack Greinke (40, 223 wins), and New York Mets Max Scherzer (39, 203 wins), and the 121st of all time. Join the 200-win Pitchers Club.
Kershaw, who has been wearing only the Dodgers uniform for 16 years, is a pitcher representing the big leagues. He won the Cy Young Award three times in 2011 and 2013-2014, which is given to the best pitcher in the league, and was named in the top 5 of the Cy Young Video voting for seven consecutive years. In 2014, he also received the National League Most Valuable Player Award (MVP). Since 1920, no pitcher with more than 1,500 innings pitched has a lower career ERA (2.47) than Kershaw. His fastball control of around 155 km/h was exquisite, and his curveball falling like a waterfall was evaluated as ‘not even knowing’. Kershaw has been evaluated as being able to enter the Hall of Fame based on his achievements so far.
However, there were concerns ahead of this season. In 2021 and 2022, the results for the last two years were not as good as the previous year. In 2021, he went 10-8 with an ERA of 3.55 in 22 games. It was the first time outside of his first season in 2008 that Kershaw had an earned run average of 3.5 or higher in his season. The number of innings in 2021 is 12.2 innings. This was also the lowest figure since 2009, when full-time selection began. In 2022, he went 12 wins (3 losses) with a 2.22 earned run average, but only 126.1 innings pitched. The reason his innings have dropped significantly over the past two years is because he has frequently suffered from back and back injuries. Due to his considerable age at 35 this year and his history of injuries, his fastball velocity fell below 150 km/h. 스포츠토토
But Kershaw is still showing off his strength this year. The content of the pitch proves this. He struck out a whopping 41 in 38 innings pitched. His batting average was only 0.174. His on-base percentage per inning (WHIP) is 0.76, ranking first in the National League. The local press is raving about his pitching, saying, “Kershaw is in his second heyday.”
Kershaw is about to join the 3,000 strikeout club this year. Kershaw, who currently has 2,848 strikeouts, will reach the record by adding 152. In the major leagues, which boasts a 150-year history, 3,000 strikeouts is a record that only 19 players have exceeded.