By Jon Weisman
A year ago, this was when Clayton Kershaw was going to reap the benefit of missing more than a month of the baseball season.
Kershaw was sidelined in 2014 from March 23 to May 6 with a Teres Major muscle strain. That stunk for April, but the upside was that with fewer innings under his belt, he’d be that much stronger for the stretch run.
This year, no such luck (good and bad). Entering his first start of September tonight, Kershaw has thrown 185 innings, nearly 15 percent more than the 161 1/3 he had at this time last season. So does he feel any different, any worse for wear?
“I think I feel the same,” Kershaw said Tuesday afternoon. “I don’t think I put much merit into (the rest angle), if I remember right, last time.”
So do the April innings matter in September and October?
“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe over the course of like 10 years, but in a small sample, probably not. I wouldn’t say so. I feel fine. I think I feel the same as I did last year. As good as you can feel.”
According to Baseball-Reference.com, Kershaw has the second-lowest ERA after September 1 in Major League history since 1920. In his career, Kershaw has a 1.97 ERA after September 1, over 219 1/3 innings — roughly the equivalent of a season (click to enlarge).
If you’re wondering about his performance in the postseason, I’ve addressed that topic most recently here.
Top: The opening spread from the 13-page photo essay on Clayton Kershaw in the September issue of Dodger Insider magazine (click to enlarge).
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