Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw Starts to Regain His Form in Win Over the Reds
The Dodgers playoff rotation is going to be deep in 2021. So deep that a guy like Clayton Kershaw could potentially be in line to start game 3 or 4 of a series depending on how things line up. That’s one heck of a rotation for teams to have to stack up against.
Making his second start since returning from a forearm issue, Kershaw was dealing against the Reds on Sunday. The Dodgers bats came alive and Kershaw tossed 5 innings and was charged with a single run.
But it was the stuff that caught the attention of Dave Roberts and the fans. The results will come, but Kershaw’s execution of his pitches is the most important thing for the Dodgers right now.
I thought he was great all the way around. I’m a little biased but I thought he got squeezed at times today. But he was fantastic. I think the story of the day today was the slider. It was really good. Threw some good curveballs, fastball mixed in there. But overall really in control.
Always his own biggest critic, even Kershaw felt like he has taken significant steps forward, especially with his slider. The Dodgers southpaw induced 15 swings-and-misses on his slider and 20 overall.
Yeah, i think it was better today overall. The Reds are a team that is pretty aggressive with the fastball. They do a good job hitting the fastball. So the game plan coming in was to throw some spin. …Got some swings early on the slider. Towards the end there they started back up so I need to fix that. But overall it was better today, for sure.
The Dodgers need Kershaw to gain some of his star form. He will be in the playoff rotation in October and will make significant starts. Getting him built back up to the pitch count they need him to be at is huge, but getting the stuff locked in is far more important.
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Playoff baseball is just a few short weeks away, and the Dodgers are ready to roll.
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We are looking good with our starting pitching; that’s for sure. Our bats need to do an uptick, though. Not enough “jammin’ up the basepaths” like we did for awhile. Lux has been a welcome bottom of the order surprise, though. They should keep him in the lineup as much as possible right now. We need a strong finish to overtake SF.
That’s just it and Lux needs to remain in lineup and Robert’s boy Bellinger and his .159 BA needs to be on the bench. But if Roberts chooses to mess the lineup up then he needs to realize that Dodgers will have to play that WC game first.