A wise man once said that age is nothing but a number.
The Los Angeles Dodgers certainly hope that is the case on Thursday evening when 21-year old Clayton Kershaw steps to the bump against the defending World Series Champions.
Manager Joe Torre announced late on Wednesday afternoon that the southpaw would get the call in Game One as the Dodgers look to get revenge for a loss in last season’s NLCS to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Torre noted that one major factor in the decision was the way Kershaw dominated a pivotal game on the final weekend of the season against the Colorado Rockies.
The Rockies, who had crept within one game of the Dodgers in the standings on that night, fell victim to the strikeout as Kershaw fanned the first five batters of the game and set the tone for a dominant night en route to an NL West clinching victory.
Kershaw made his first career playoff start last week in Game Two of the NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals and he didn’t disappoint.
The youngster worked six-and-two-third innings and earned a no decision against potential Cy Young winner Adam Wainwright. Kershaw’s gritty performance allowed the Blue Crew to stay close in the game, and eventually mount a ninth-inning comeback to capture the victory.
One big advantage for Kershaw will be that he is making the Game One start within the friendly confines of Dodger Stadium, where he has faired extremely well so far this season.
In fact, he posted a miniscule 1.83 ERA at home (even though his record was just 3-4) and allowed only 15 extra base hits in 363 plate appearances.
Some critics have pointed out that Clayton has a 0-2 record with an ERA over five against the Phillies this season. But, in 60 at-bats against Kershaw during the regular season, Phillies’ hitters managed just one home run.
The long ball came off the bat of all-world second baseman Chase Utley, who also added a double and went 3-for-10 against Kershaw this season.
Even considering his overall numbers against the Phillies, there is a tremendous amount of positive things for Dodger fans to look towards for the series opener.
Opposing hitters, besides being limited to a league-best .200 average against Kershaw, have notched just a .282 slugging percentage versus the left-hander this season. After the All-Star break, he gave up only two home runs (and only seven on the entire 2009 campaign), and those came in back-to-back outings in late August.
Most impressively, Kershaw fanned 72 left-handed hitters in 139 at-bats.
That means for every two lefties that hit against him, one will almost certainly fall victim to the strikeout.
Don’t let his 8-8 record for the season fool you; he posted the Senior Circuit’s fifth best regular season ERA (2.79), but to be effective he needs to be able to locate his pitches in order to pitch deep into the game.
Over his last 16 appearances in the regular season, he struck out 102 batters in 88.1 innings while walking only 44.
He continued that fine point control in his NLDS outing versus the Cardinals, with the only walk he issued coming in the form of an intentional pass.
Now, Randy Wolf pitched in Game One of the NLDS, but his performance didn’t merit the opportunity to open up the league championship series. He couldn’t navigate out of the fourth inning, even though he allowed only two runs, but the Dodgers were still able to bang out a victory over Chris Carpenter.
Even though Wolf is the veteran, Kershaw outpitched Wolf in the NLDS and earned the chance to start in Game One.
Here's how the NLCS rotation will breakdown.
Game 1: Kershaw
Game 2: Vicente Padilla
Game 3: Hiroki Kuroda
Game 4: Randy Wolf
That means Padilla, coming off an outstanding performance in a hostile environment at Busch Stadium, earned the right to start at home and jump Wolf in the pecking order.
Torre, and many others, have compared Kershaw to another Dodger lefty: Sandy Koufax, and anytime No. 32’s name creeps into a conversation, you better have the ammunition to back up your words.
In my opinion, Kershaw has the bullets to backup the confidence Torre has put in the southpaw.
Maybe he’s not Koufax just yet, and maybe he never will be Koufax.
But he doesn’t have to be that.
All Kershaw needs to do is stay within himself and keep the game in perspective.
That means taking the time to regroup and adjust after a poor pitch or poor inning, something he struggled to do earlier in the season but improved upon as the seasons changed.
The game of baseball is dipped in the rich history of players past and present, and on Thursday evening Kershaw will have a huge opportunity to notch his name in postseason lore.
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