Dodgers: 3 reasons Clayton Kershaw holds keys to 2020 team success

1) Strength at the top

While the Dodgers roster doesn’t appear to have many holes, there are a few question marks, and one of those belongs at the end of the rotation. If a rag-tag group doesn’t prove capable of providing consistency from the mound this season, there will be even more pressure than usual on the team’s top starters.

After losing Hyun-Jin Ryu in free agency to Toronto, the top of the rotation belongs solely to Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler. Everyone expects Buehler to continue his progression to Ace status, but the title still belongs to the veteran Kershaw. He will need to provide the Dodgers with the same level of excellence he has brought over the past 12 seasons in Los Angeles in order to lead the team to the promise land.

Behind Kershaw and Buehler, manager Dave Roberts will look to David Price, Julio Urias and Alex Wood to fill out the rotation. By no means a group of terrible options, but there is plenty of uncertainty in projecting their 2020 performance. If a few of them falter, it will be up to the top guys to carry the load.

And the pressure falls particularly on Kershaw, considering Buehler still hasn’t even pitched 200 innings in the majors over his short career. It’s easy to assume Buehler will be the future Ace, but until he gets there, the number one starter status, the guy responsible for leading the rest of the rotation, belongs to Kershaw.