Sorry about any possible jinx, but it's too much fun to
walk about him.
A couple more numbers to show how brilliant he's been this year.
Since 1901, of all pitchers that have thrown at least 100 innings, Kershaw's
0.657 WHIP is the best single season mark in Major League History. And that
will go down slightly, as Baseball Reference's database has not yet updated to reflect last night's games. He pitched 7 innings, gave up six hits, 0 walks. His WHIP last night was
0.857.
His 2016 FIP (again, before last night's update) is also historic. 1.64 right now, and that will drop, too. But as it stands, since 1901, that's the 17th best mark in baseball history by a starter, and the six guys directly ahead of him are within 0.002 of him. Oh, and of those pitchers, only one starter is from the modern era-Pedro Martinez. Pedro put up a 1.61 WHIP in 2001 (he pitched only 116 2/3 innings), and in 1999, he put up a spectacular 1.39 FIP in 213 1/3 innings. Every other guy on the list--Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Cy Young, Addie Joss, Chief Bender, Rube Waddell, Ed Walsh and Red Ames--you know you're having an historic season.
141 K's and 7 walks. Unreal.