The Dodgers Have Won Clayton Kershaw’s Last 14 Regular Season Starts

Clayton Kershaw is not the same pitcher he once was, that much is for sure. But the Dodgers still lean pretty heavily on the 31-year-old lefty from Dallas, and I don’t expect that to change. Kershaw has already allowed 7 home runs in 6 starts and is carrying a 3.40 ERA. Not awful, but also not the trademark Kershaw numbers we have grown accustomed to since his arrival in Los Angeles.

And yet, the Dodgers are still finding ways to win games for him. With their win over San Diego on Tuesday night, Los Angeles has now won 14 straight regular season games that Clayton Kershaw started in.

To be clear, we do not mean that Clayton Kershaw has earned a win in 14-straight appearances. He’s actually only earned 7 wins during this current streak, with 3 this year already despite getting a late start.

Realistically, Kershaw has not exactly been terrific during this streak either. He has pitched a total of 91.2 innings and allowed 34 earned runs in the process. That would come out to a 3.34 ERA and a walk to strikeout ratio of 4.88:1. Not bad at all for most of the league, but again, not a good sign for Kershaw.

But regardless, it’s been encouraging to really watch his team show up for him when it matters. Kershaw was known early in his career for getting very little run support if any at all. Lately, things have seemed to change a bit. In those games Kershaw has pitched in, the Dodgers have scored an average of more than 6 runs per game.

Streaks like this may not mean a whole lot for baseball now, but it is still great to see. Here’s hoping the team can continue to pile up the runs for our ace.

Kershaw’s velocity has been down for the third straight year, but he is giving up fewer hits overall. The problem really has been the home run ball, which he’s allowing at a rate that almost doubles last year.