Los Angeles Dodgers: Why Clayton Kershaw will be better in 2019
By Jason Reed
Clayton Kershaw has not been as good as he can be the last few years, however, the Los Angeles Dodgers ace is due for a vintage year in 2019.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have had the luxury of having the greatest pitcher on the planet headline the rotation the last decade, who is also going to go down as one of the most dominant pitchers in his prime.
From 2011 to 2016 Clayton Kershaw was nothing short of dominant and put together one of the most impressive six-year stretches in MLB history. In that time frame, Kershaw won three Cy Youngs, an MVP, was a six-time all-star and had a collective 2.06 ERA and 1421 strikeouts.
It is the last year in that span, 2016, where the problems started to hit Kershaw that have followed him into the 2019 season. Kershaw has been injury prone and has not made 30 starts the last three seasons.
He still has made 74 starts the last three years, which certainly is not as low as some Dodger fans may think, but his health has impacted his performance and most importantly, his velocity.
A 30-year-old Kershaw seems like he is 37 because of the injuries he has sustained the last three years. He has still been great; he finished second in Cy Young voting in 2017 and battled back with a great second half to post a 2.73 ERA in 2018.
The problem is that fans have recency bias and to many, the ship has probably sailed on Kershaw being the best pitcher in the game. I guarantee there are fans out there that are assured that Kershaw will never win a Cy Young again.
Those fans are wrong. Not only is Kershaw due for another Cy Young, but he could also be due for one in 2019. Here are three reasons why Kershaw is going to have a great bounce-back 2019 season.