Clayton Kershaw

[GaryPassamonte]

I heard two interesting tidbits on TV today. On MLB Now, it was stated that Kershaw and Pettite have made the most starts on short rest since 1995 with six starts each. On Pardon the Interruption, Mike Wilbon said that pitchers on short rest are a combined 49-79 in the post season. I realize Kershaw has had his post season troubles, but do these two pieces of information provide a partial answer to this? Thoughts?

[GaryPassamonte]

So much for that theory.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Where are the guys who have insisted in the past this was all just small sample size?

To me this is a huge, and almost inexplicable, black mark against an otherwise great pitcher.

[Jim65]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Where are the guys who have insisted in the past this was all just small sample size?

To me this is a huge, and almost inexplicable, black mark against an otherwise great pitcher.

At this point everyone knows what Kershaw is, except Dave Roberts apparently.

[GaryPassamonte]

I am a life long Dodger fan and have been a defender of Kershaw through his playoff woes, but I must concede, he has experienced a significant decline in the last few years. While pitchers such as Scherzer and Verlander have flourished with age, Kershaw has not.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by GaryPassamonte

I am a life long Dodger fan and have been a defender of Kershaw through his playoff woes, but I must concede, he has experienced a significant decline in the last few years. While pitchers such as Scherzer and Verlander have flourished with age, Kershaw has not.

I can remember Verlander having some aging pains of his own In Detroit. Kershaw will figure it out. If Homer Bailey (Homer Bailey!) can figure out his problems and turn it around in Oakland, Kershaw can turn it around in LA. Or maybe it just takes a change of scenery.

[todeen]

Wanted to bump this since the Astros news broke.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[Touch'EmAll]

Kershaw has a nice high leg kick before he delivers. However it seems he loses that leg kick momentum halfway through his delivery as his leg comes down and pauses before he makes movement toward the plate. Looks somewhat herky-jerky to me. I wonder if he were to continue his leg kick momentum further into driving toward the plate, smooth it out, maybe gain more power on delivery. Heck if I know technically, I am sure not a coach, but it would seem coaches would spot this and try to help him have a more smooth continual pitching motion.

[Paul S]

Originally Posted by 100backstroke

Kershaw has a nice high leg kick before he delivers. However it seems he loses that leg kick momentum halfway through his delivery as his leg comes down and pauses before he makes movement toward the plate. Looks somewhat herky-jerky to me. I wonder if he were to continue his leg kick momentum further into driving toward the plate, smooth it out, maybe gain more power on delivery. Heck if I know technically, I am sure not a coach, but it would seem coaches would spot this and try to help him have a more smooth continual pitching motion.

This most continually dominant starting pitcher of his generation (up until the last few years) Have you ever considered that he's making an adjustment for ache and pain? Ankle, knee or hip? In 12 MLB seasons he's been a workhorse. Pitched a cargo ship of innings. I highly doubt knows nothing how to adjust his technique.

[Touch'EmAll]

To answer your question, yes, I have considered that Kershaw has been making adjustments the last few years. I would be shocked if he hasn't. I know he has been working diligently on developing a change-up and I know he constantly makes adjustment to keep hitters off balance and focusing more on pitch placement rather than just sending fastballs straight down the plate. If you take a look at the site, "Let's Talk Pitching" (a forum with technical talk from actual pitchers/coaches) there are concerns with his herky-jerky pause before he comes to the plate. The posts inquire why the pause, claiming the pause does indeed take away from power to the plate. And pitchers say the pause is not the best of mechanics to promote to young pitchers as it can lead to a loss of power and too much stress on the arm and shoulder. On the other hand, some posts claim what Kershaw gains with the pause is the ability to keep hitters off balance. They also say that the other aspects of his pitching motion are infact very solid.

[dgo71]

I've always thought pitchers with complicated wind-ups had a shorter shelf life in general. When there's that many moving parts, when something goes wrong or gets out of whack it's tough to pin down exactly what is wrong. This leads to constant tweaks that effect performance. Look at Tim Lincecum, Dontrelle Willis, etc. Crazy wind ups and when the bottom fell out, they were effectively done for. On the flip side, guys like Nolan Ryan and Greg Maddux had simple mechanics, and they were able to pitch for a long time, remain largely injury-free and be consistently effective throughout their careers.