Dodgers: Three current players who could become Hall-of-Famers

Clayton Kershaw

This is an easy one. Clayton Kershaw has been one of the best pitchers in baseball since he broke into the Major Leagues and pitched his first full season in 2009. If Kershaw ended his career today, he would be a Hall-of-Famer. He has pitched twelve seasons for the Dodgers, the same number as Sandy Koufax, and the similarity between the two southpaws is striking.

Over nearly an identical number of innings, Kershaw matches up with Koufax in almost every major statistical category. While Kershaw’s resume is a bit stained from his postseason struggles, his regular season record is overwhelmingly in favor of him becoming a Hall-of-Famer. Anytime you can match up with the great Sandy Koufax, you have reached an elite stratosphere of pitching.

Baseball Reference uses a variety of models to project whether a player is a Hall-of-Famer. According to JAWS, which measures a variety of factors in evaluating a player’s worthiness to reach Cooperstown, Kershaw already ranks 37th as a starting pitcher, close in ranking to Hall-of-Famers such as Nolan Ryan, Al Spalding, and Jim Palmer.

Kershaw has won three Cy Young Awards, five ERA titles, a Gold Glove Award, and even accomplished the rare feat of winning National League MVP as a pitcher. It’s only a matter of time before Kershaw’s name is listed atop the Hall-of-Fame ballot.

Cody Bellinger

Cody Bellinger has played only three seasons in the Major Leagues, less than the five year post-career wait it takes to be considered for the Hall-of-Fame. However, the 24-year-old slugger is off to an amazing start to his career, perhaps taking the first few steps on a long path to Cooperstown.

Since breaking into the Big Leagues in 2017, Bellinger has filled his trophy case with just about every possible award. He won the Rookie of the Year Award, made his first All-Star appearance, and finished ninth in MVP voting by the time his first season was completed. Last year, he was completely dominant. He won the National League MVP Award, Silver Slugger Award, and to round it out, a Gold Glove Award.

His 47 home runs in 2019 are the second highest single-season total in Dodgers history. Bellinger increased his power while improving his approach at the plate, raising his batting average to a career-best .305 to go along with a .406 on-base percentage.

If Cody Bellinger continues to produce like he has over the past three seasons, he will surely be on his way to Cooperstown. Lucky for Dodgers fans, he has his entire career ahead of him, so instead of reflecting on what he has done in the past, they got to look forward to the production he promises in the future.

Mookie Betts

Let’s hope this one doesn’t break our hearts. Acquired in the offseason, Mookie Betts is set to become a free agent next winter, whether the 2020 season is played or not. In the best case scenario, a shortened season is played, Betts helps the Dodgers win their first championship since 1988 and decides to re-sign a long-term deal shortly after the parade in downtown Los Angeles.

However we get there, if Betts does stay with the Dodgers, he is surely on the right path to becoming a Hall-of-Famer.

The 27-year-old right fielder is one of the best players in baseball, which makes for great local talk show banter with perhaps the only player better than him, Mike Trout, playing down the freeway. Betts won the American League MVP in 2018, and has finished in the top ten of voting in each of the past four seasons.

The 5-foot-9 outfielder has proven to be an elite player in all facets of the game. He can hit for power, average, run the base paths, while catching everything hit his way. In 2018, he won the American League Batting Title while clobbering 32 home runs, swiping 30 bases, and winning the Gold Glove Award.

In total, Betts has three Silver Slugger Awards, four Gold Glove Awards, and has reached the All-Star game in every season since 2016. If that is not the profile of a Hall-of-Fame player, I don’t know what is.