Dodgers 6 Padres 3: 300 Strikeouts, 92 Wins

Oct 4, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22) leaves the field after throwing his 300th career strikeout in the third inning of the game against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

So that was a fun season. It was a wacky, windy road to get to this point but the Dodgers are in the playoffs for the 3rd straight year, they’ve hit 92 wins for the 3rd straight season, and Clayton Kershaw finished off a historic season with his 300th strikeout coming in his final tuneup before the playoffs.

The team had a nice day on offense with Corey Seager hitting another dinger, in his first taste of the big leagues hitting .337/.425/.561 in his first 113 plate appearance, he is looking like a legitimate middle of the order bat as a 21 year old and is probably going to start in the playoffs.

Also Joc Pederson finished off his wacky season with a home run, a walk, and two strikeouts. His final line? 26 home runs,  170 strikeouts and a 15.7% BB%, I would have definitely have taken a 115 wRC+ at the beginning of the season, there probably should be questions about his long term projection (because we have no clue considering how high and low he was) but it’s good that he gave the Dodgers what he did because the true backup (Chris Heisey) was just not an option.

But the real story was Clayton Kershaw. Whoooo boy. 300 strikeouts for the first time since Sandy Koufax. Neither are overrated, both are some of the best pitchers who ever lived, Clayton Kershaw is probably better than Sandy. This is absurd. His final line? 232.2 innings pitched 301 strikeouts 50% GB% 2.13 ERA, 1.99 FIP, I don’t think it was his best season on a per rate basis, but it probably was his best season yet.

For now, we get 4 days of stress free non-baseball, post regular season pre post season bliss where we see some insane wild card matchups. We will see hot takes as to who should start the 3rd game of the game, we will see hot takes as to whether Yasiel Puig should make the NLDS roster (he shouldn’t), we will see a ton of crazy stuff but for now, enjoy the 90+ win season, and while it was a very inefficient way to get there, they got there!