Los Angeles Dodgers: Why Clayton Kershaw will be better in 2019
By Jason Reed
2. Walker Buehler takes some of the pressure off of Kershaw
He will never admit it but sometimes the pressure does get to Clayton Kershaw. Why else would he fold in these certain playoff moments but in other playoff moments thrive like the great pitcher that he is? It does not happen all the time, but there are times that the pressure can get to him.
There is no more pressure in the regular season than being the ace and being the guy responsible for the team winning a game every five days. The pitching has been what has made the Dodgers so great the last six years and a large part of that is indeed Kershaw.
Like we saw with Zack Greinke in 2015, having another great pitcher behind Kershaw that can go toe-to-toe with him production-wise and pick up the team after Kershaw had a bad night is huge.
Walker Buehler has already proven that he deserves that second spot and even outpitched Kershaw down the stretch. He will fit in nicely in that second spot and his continued success will make Kershaw want to be better.
It sounds trivial and I totally get it but just look at the past. Greinke obviously had an impact on Kershaw and it was even apparent in 2018. Kershaw went out and gave arguably his greatest postseason start ever against the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS after Hyun-Jin Ryu set the table and dazzled in game one.