Skip to main content

Clayton Kershaw should win the National League MVP

While many baseball analysts have argued over the past several weeks whether or not Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw should win the National League MVP, I'll decide for them - yes, he should.

The main argument against a pitcher winning the Most Valuable Player award is the fact he plays in roughly 25% of the team's games. The Los Angeles Dodgers are 82-62 on the season, which places them 3.5 games up on San Francisco in the NL West and one game up on Washington for home-field advantage in the playoffs. Clayton Kershaw is 18-3 this season (.857). The Dodgers are 20-4 in games he's started (.833), and 17-1 since June 2nd (.944). Los Angeles is just 62-58 (.517) in games Kershaw doesn't start. The .517 winning percentage would place the team 5th in the National League (behind Washington, St. Louis, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh), and force them to play Pittsburgh in a 1-game playoff, the winner heading to Washington to take on the Nationals.

So much for that argument then, right? Now onto Kershaw's insane statistics. In my lifetime, at least, I can't remember a pitcher being so dominant in a season.

Record: 18-3 (.857) - ranked 1st in the MLB in wins

ERA: 1.67 - ranked 1st (2nd is 2.09)

WHIP: 0.82 - ranked 1st (2nd is 0.92)

WAR: 7.5 - ranked 1st (2nd is 6.8)

K: 210 - ranked 7th

K/9: 10.66 - ranked 2nd

Complete games: 6 - ranked 1st

Shutouts: 2 - ranked 2nd

Quality start percentage: 92% - ranked 1st

If those numbers aren't crazy enough, Kershaw struggled in his first few starts this season. Since June 2nd, the Dodger ace has pitched 142 innings, has allowed just 19 earned runs, has struck out 164, walked only 20, and has an ERA of 1.20. The Dodgers are 17-1 in those starts (.944).

No matter how one wants to cut it, whether one wants to use the label best pitcher, best player, or Most Valuable Player, Clayton Kershaw is it, and at the end of the season, not only should he win the National League Cy Young award, but also the National League MVP award. Without him, the Dodgers have been a slightly above-average team. With him, they're currently on pace to have home-field advantage in the playoffs. If that's not proof enough that Kershaw is the MVP, I don't know what is...

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/gamelog/_/id/28963/clayton-kershaw

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kershcl01.shtml?redir

http://espn.go.com/mlb/standings
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Boycotting jukeboxes because of TouchTunes

I love music and enjoy hitting the bar(s) over the weekend, so naturally, when the mood strikes me, I've never been coy about playing some songs on the jukebox. This past Thursday, a friend of mine turned 50, so several friends of her's, including myself, all met up to celebrate the occasion. At around 9:30, a friend of mine and I both chipped in $5 to play some songs on the jukebox. Four hours and 231 skips later, we gave up on hearing the songs we had selected, and went home knowing we had just wasted $5. This wasn't the first time such a thing had happened to me (and many others), and due to that, I'll be boycotting jukeboxes. Why? The scam known as TouchTunes. You see, here's how the plot typically breaks down. A person (or group of people) downloads the TouchTunes app on his/her phone, consumes one too many adult beverages, and due to this, has less care for spending extra money to hear the songs of their choosing right NOW. That's the thing with TouchTun
2 comments
Read more

The difference between "looking" and "checking out"

I may be way off with these numbers, but it's my approximation that at least 75% of individuals whom are involved in a serious relationship feel it's perfectly acceptable to "check out" members of the opposite sex they're not involved with. Meanwhile, approximately 25% either don't feel this is acceptable or aren't sure about the matter. I hadn't thought about this matter for a while, but since I've been dating a woman for about 8 months, the topic has been pondered about some. When reading or hearing others discuss this very issue, I often times hear comments similar to the following: "It's human nature to look." "There's nothing wrong with checking others out. I'm sure he/she does it too!" "It's fine to do it. Just don't tell your boyfriend/girlfriend about it or do it in front of them!" "It's natural to find people attractive." When observing the array of comments, I i
Post a Comment
Read more

The verdict is in. To no one's surprise, Jonathan Hoenig has been found guilty of being an idiot.

Just recently, when discussing the Michael Brown shooting and whether or not race had anything to do with it, Fox News contributor Jonathan Hoenig said, "You know who talks about race? Racists." One moment while I provide Mr. Hoenig with the well deserved slow-clap. :: slow-claps for two seconds :: So, that was quite the line by Mr. Hoenig, wasn't it? "You know who talks about race? Racists." Well, wasn't he just talking about race? So, by his own words, I guess that makes him a racist. Also, if he wants to be consistent, does this mean that people whom talk about gender are sexists and people whom talk about sexual orientation are homophobes? With that line of thinking, Hoenig would engage in the following back-and-forths: Hoenig: "So, who are you voting for?" A woman: "The Democratic candidate, because he's been adamant about his support for equal rights for women." Hoenig: "You sexist feminist nazi!"
Post a Comment
Read more