Among the three active players who have won the Cy Young Award three times, the pitcher with the best pace in the early season is Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Justin Verlander of the New York Mets is recovering from an arm injury and is now about to make his first appearance of the season, while fellow teammate Max Scherzer is digesting a 10-game suspension for throwing a foreign object. But Kershaw went through his first month in good health.
As of the 2nd (hereinafter Korean time), Kershaw appeared in 6 games and made 5 quality starts, recording 5 wins and 1 loss with an ERA of 1.89. It ranks first in the National League for most wins and fourth in ERA.
He threw 38 innings, striking out 41, showing a WHIP of 0.76 and a batting average of 0.175. He ranks first in the NL in innings pitched, first in WHIP, fifth in strikeouts and third in batting average. A video of the 4th sai of his life is also available. Some say that he may have reached his second prime after enduring despite his numerous injuries.
Against the St. Louis Cardinals on the 30th of last month, he showed off his best condition this season by throwing 2 hits and 9 strikeouts in 7 innings.
But Kershaw has had ups and downs over the past two years on his way to this point. When he became a free agent, the Dodgers team was cold. On the surface, renewing the contract with Kershaw is a priority, but in actual negotiations, he did not offer a multi-year contract of more than two years, let alone a qualifying offer, due to frequent injuries.
At the end of 2021, when he became a free agent for the first time, local media saw three options for Kershaw. Renewing his contract with the Dodgers, moving to his hometown team, the Texas Rangers, and his retirement. Andrew Friedman, who negotiated with Kershaw at the time, said: “Kershaw wants to talk to his wife. He wants to make the best decision for his family.” It was interpreted as meaning that he was considering retirement.
Of course, Kershaw fully understood the position of the Dodgers team. That year, due to an elbow injury, he was on the injured list for more than two months from early July to mid-September, and threw 121⅔ innings in 22 games, recording 10 wins and 8 losses with an average ERA of 3.55. He had his worst earned run average since 2009, when he took over as a full-time starter.\
The Dodgers made it to the postseason, but Kershaw, who suffered the aftermath of an arm injury, was unavailable in the roster. The Dodgers’ position was to see his health condition until spring training the following year. It was on March 13, right after the lockout was lifted, that Kershaw agreed to renew his contract with the Dodgers. Kershaw accepted the $17 million a year offered by the Dodgers.
Sakshaw was on the injured list twice last year, including a pelvic injury and back pain. However, he threw 126⅓ innings in 22 games, going 12-3 with a 2.28 earned run average and 137 strikeouts, showing much better pitching than a year ago.메이저놀이터
After the season, the Dodgers team did not present a qualifying offer, but it was still adamant, but it put up a condition of 20 million dollars for one year. Kershaw returned to his hometown of Texas and re-opted to remain after a family meeting. Local media reported that he had been thinking about his retirement even then.
Kershaw said in an AP interview shortly after renewing his contract in early December of last year, “I decided that our time in LA was not over yet.” It didn’t seem like it,” he said.
In other words, the Dodgers wanted to confirm that there were no anatomical abnormalities in Kershaw’s elbow, arm, or shoulder. Anyway, unlike his year before, Kershaw returned to training this spring after pitching normally last winter. He pitched 18⅓ innings in 4 appearances in exhibition games, and had a normal season.
Kershaw had a good start to the season with 4 wins and a 1.80 ERA in the first 5 games last year, but took a break for over a month due to a sacroiliac joint injury. It remains to be seen if Kershaw will be able to digest the full-time rotation without injury this year.