Clayton Kershaw's Ailing Back Puts Historic Season In Jeopardy

Clayton Kershaw was off to a remarkable start this season. Entering Sunday’s 4-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Kershaw boasted an 11-1 record with a 1.57 ERA, with 141 strikeouts and just seven walks. Kershaw struggled in that game, and now we know why, as he’ll head to Los Angeles to see a back specialist.

The Dodgers’ ace had apparently been dealing with lower back stiffness for weeks yet somehow was still dominating on the mound. Kershaw’s current strikeout-to-walk ratio of 16.1 would shatter the previous record of 11.6 that Phil Hughes set for the Minnesota Twins in 2014. Think that’s crazy? It gets better. If the season ended today, Kershaw’s 0.73 WHIP would be the lowest of all-time, just eclipsing Pedro Martinez’s mark of 0.737 from 2000.

Kershaw’s starts have become must-watch television, and that’s coming from a long-suffering San Diego Padres fan. The guy is the best pitcher we may have seen in the last half-century. His lifetime ERA of 2.39 is the best of any pitcher since the dead-ball era (which ran from 1900 to 1919), and it’s not even a tight race. Whitey Ford is his closest competition and the long-time Yankee ace finished his career with a 2.75 mark.

While it is disappointing we may not get to see Kershaw toe the slab for a bit, the news is even worse for the Dodgers. In Kershaw’s starts this year Los Angeles is 14-2 and has a run-differential of plus-43. In games started by anyone else, the Dodgers are 28-34 with a run differential of minus-two.

So yeah, it’s not surprising Kershaw’s lower back is sore, he’s been carrying the Dodgers all season. The team’s postseason hopes likely rest on how quickly he can return, since Los Angeles currently sits seven games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants in the National League West.