Clayton Kershaw has had some bad postseason outings in his storied 16-year Dodgers career. The worst arrived on Saturday.
Facing the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 1 of the NLDS, Kershaw took the mound and didn't get an out until his sixth batter, and was pulled after allowing one more RBI double to his eighth. The Dodgers called in rookie Emmett Sheehan to end the inning, but the damage was already done.
Kershaw exited with a line of 0.1 innings pitched, six hits allowed (four for extra bases), one walk and no strikeouts in 35 pitches. Dodger Stadium was audibly booing as he walked off.
Five @Dbacks have come to the plate tonight.
— MLB (@MLB) October 8, 2023
Five @Dbacks have scored. 🐍 pic.twitter.com/0mCmRRdXtO
He spent the rest of the inning sitting dejected in the Dodgers' dugout.
Let's just go through all the jarring stats that came out of that inning:
Kershaw allowed seven balls in play and the softest hit was 96.7 mph, as measured by Statcast
It was the shortest start of Kershaw's career, regular season or postseason
Kershaw had previously never allowed six runs in a first inning
Only six other pitchers in MLB postseason history had allowed more than six runs in a start of an inning or less
No pitcher in MLB postseason history, starter or reliever, had allowed five hits and five runs before recording an out before Kershaw
The D-Backs tied the 1999 Atlanta Braves for the most plate appearances before an out in postseason history
You get the point. Arizona hit Kershaw harder than he had ever been in his career, and about as hard as anyone has been hit in the postseason.
Truly deserved or not, it can't be denied Kershaw has a reputation for underperforming in the playoffs. He has faltered in big spots, yes, but he has also been repeatedly put in difficult positions by the Dodgers over the last decade, be it starts on short rest, between-starts relief appearances or needing to go deeper into games due to a weakened bullpen.
This felt like something different.
Kershaw has spent this season, and the last few, getting by with diminished velocity without it really affecting his basic numbers. He held a 2.46 ERA this season in 131 2/3 innings, striking out 137 with a 1.063 WHIP. He didn't fool the D-Backs though, with his fastball averaging 90.2 mph.
It feels unimaginable that Kershaw's Hall of Fame-bound career could end with the most brutal of ass-kickings, but it feels distinctly possible right now. Kershaw, a pending free agent, will be 36 years old by the beginning of next season, and he was facing retirement speculation even before Saturday. Maybe he sticks around just to make sure this isn't the way he goes out, but who knows?
Saturday was supposed to be the playoff opener for another 100-win Dodgers division champion. It took about 15 minutes to turn into a burial.
