Los Angeles Dodgers: Players that will shock the MLB world in 2019

3. Clayton Kershaw

This one might be a bit surprising as Clayton Kershaw was considered the greatest pitcher on the planet for a long time, and rightfully so. From 2011 to 2015 Kershaw was absolutely dominant, picking up three Cy Youngs, an MVP and a combined 2.11 ERA.

Very rarely do we see multiple-year stretches as dominant as that five-year stretch for Kershaw. He was even off on the right foot in 2016 as well as it appeared he was set for his fourth Cy Young as he was posting a record-shattering K/BB ratio.

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However, that is when the workload finally began to catch up to Kershaw and the injuries started to roll in. Kershaw threw only 149 innings that year to the tune of a 1.69 ERA. That should have been his best year ever.

The following year Kershaw did not miss as much time, throwing 175 innings, and finished second in Cy Young voting with a 2.31 ERA. However, he still suffered injuries, which only added to his current state.

Kershaw yet again missed time last year and it is when it became alarming. While he still posted a 2.73 ERA, the zip on his fastball was gone as his velocity had dipped all the way to the low 90s. Fast forward to February 2019 and Kershaw was shut down after a bad bullpen session and is now in danger of missing Opening Day.

It appears as one of the most dominant players of all-time is going to get his prime cut short because of injuries. He is still only 30 years old and if he never got hurt he probably would have five Cy Young awards and a fastball that still touched 95.

Instead, he has many people thinking that his time as the team’s ace has passed and it is now Buehler’s time. It is easy to think that, after all, as Kershaw’s continued health issues have given fans no reason at all to feel promise.

However, Kershaw has evolved into a pitcher that does not need a 95 mile per hour fastball and can still succeed at the big league level. Even if he misses time to begin the year, he will be back on the big league rubber and will be getting big league hitters out.

I would not expect Kershaw to put together the best season of his career but the notion that all of his good days are behind him will be proven wrong.