Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw Aces His First Test of the 2019 Season

Clayton Kershaw made his first start of 2019 for the Dodgers last night and he gave the team everything they could’ve wanted and more.

Last night’s regular season start for Clayton Kershaw meant a lot more than the usual April start for the seasoned veteran.  Coming off a newly signed three-year contract, missed time, and a rehab start in which he gave up two home runs at Double-A, the clouds of doubt started to form at Chavez Ravine.  What would his velocity be? How effective would he be?

At least for one night, Clayton silenced that doubt and showed that he still has plenty left in the tank.  He pitched seven strong innings, allowing two runs, no walks, and struck out six.  His lone mistake was a two-run home run given up to former Dodger Yasiel Puig.  It was a slider on a 1-2 count that didn’t break inside enough and Puig made Kershaw pay for his mistake.

Outside of that one mistake, it was a solid start for Kershaw’s lofty standards and when you factor in this is only his third start with no real spring training, it is that much more impressive.  A starting pitcher usually gets at least four to five tune-up starts in spring training and all Clayton had to work with was two minor league rehab outings.

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As far as velocity on his fastball, Kershaw’s range was 89-91 miles per hour with a good amount of 90-91 mile per hour fastballs.  That isn’t much of a change from last season where Kershaw sat around 90-91 on his fastball.

He has the offspeed mix to get away with a slower fastball but his margin for error has greatly diminished from the days when he used to throw 93-95 miles per hour.  One interesting note from Kershaw’s first start is that he recorded over 70% of his outs via the groundball. His career average for ground ball percentage is a much lower 46.4%.

Given it’s only his third start of the year, it’s not out of the question that Kershaw’s fastball could gain another tick or two on the radar gun as he gets further into the season.  Last season Kershaw did not pitch enough innings to qualify for the leader boards but his 2.73 ERA would’ve ranked him seventh in MLB for ERA.  This season it’s not out of the question that he could once again finish with an ERA under three.

While many are quick to anoint Walker Buehler as the ace of the Dodgers’ rotation, Clayton Kershaw still has the title as the team’s ace and the resume to back it up.  Clayton aced his first test of the season and next time out the competition will be much tougher in the Brewers who have one of the best lineups in the National League.  Watching Kershaw pitch is still must-see TV, and count him out at your own peril.