Dodgers need Julio Urías, Clayton Kershaw to deliver to make pitching history

The 2022 Los Angeles Dodgers have plenty of potential major league history ahead of them as they enter the season’s final stretch. The all-time regular-season MLB wins record of 116 remains in play — though just barely. A few losses to the Padres and Giants will do that to a team.

The franchise wins record of 106 should be handily passed, though, as the Dodgers will still zip through that mark even if they play like uncharacteristic slop over the season’s final 16 games.

Busting past the finish line will be important only for team morale and the record books; this year’s Dodgers have already clinched home field throughout the National League Division Series, and the NLCS/World Series shouldn’t be far behind.

But there’s a little-known record still within reach for LA, pointing to their rotation’s ridiculous supremacy (and, yes, the fact that they’ve got an All-Star lineup backing them and leading to lopsided win-loss records).

Before the season, if you’d been told that Walker Buehler would barely participate in the action, and would perform below-average when he showed up at all, you’d be hard-pressed to piece together a four-man rotation that could accomplish something never before seen in the era of the ERA (since 1913, when the stat was invented).

That’s exactly what the Dodgers are about to submit, though, as long as Julio Urías and Clayton Kershaw can avoid taking an L in their final few starts. As of Tuesday morning, LA is on pace to finish the season with four starters owning a .700+ winning percentage and ERAs under 3.00, with a minimum of 15 starts. That’s never been done before.

Sadly, if Urías drops to 17-8, he’ll be below the threshold. Same with Kershaw in a hypothetical 9-4. Come on, wins and no decisions! You’ve got this!

Dodgers could make rotation history without Walker Buehler

Nothing could be more important for the Dodgers than keeping Kershaw fresh for the postseason. Maybe he stays on the shelf until then, as long as he remains in rhythm?

Without Kershaw leading the way, this rest of this quartet (plus Dustin May) still feels a little bit untrustworthy on the big stage. Obviously, nits are being picked here with a 100-plus win juggernaut, but both Anderson and Gonsolin have plenty to prove this postseason before anyone pencils them in as October heroes.

Still … the numbers don’t lie. Any time you’ve got a rotation packed with low-ERA winners to a degree the game has never seen before, there could be something extremely special on the horizon, even without the biggest of names involved.

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