I don’t have much time today. Our 5-year-old granddaughter stayed the night, and she loves to go out to breakfast and to church, so I am pressed for time, but I could not resist saying: “I told you so… and the horse you rode in on.” š All the haters and doubters that wanted Clayton to be gone had sight but no vision. This is Clayton Freaking Kerhaw! Never doubt the G.O.A.T.
Get busy living or get busy dying. Words I live by!
Kershaw was magnificent.
If he can keep this up, the Dodgers will be in great shape.
My dream playoff rotation features both Kershaw and that other guy who really might be the GOAT, Shohei.
Here’s a fun stat: The Dodgers have played 71 games so far–and Shohei has scored 80 runs.
If (IF) everyone is healthy, it’ll be interesting to see who gets the call in the postseason
Shohei, Snell, Glasnow and Yamamoto would be ahead of Kershaw, I’d imagine
The results were great
I’m not in a place that I can watch games from, and I also have no problem admitting (unlike many) that watching a game from the stands or on a screen doesn’t really give me that much insight into how a player looks.
The results, 7 shutout innings, were great. A 21% K rate (5 of 24 hitters) is basically average. Just 1 walk was great of course.
Beyond that, I can’t say. The stats he didn’t induce a bunch of soft contact and was actually hit harder than the average pitcher in 2025. Kershaw’s rates for soft, medium, and hard were 6/61/33. League average is 16/53/31. So Kershaw traded soft contact for medium contact. Can’t say that that’s ideal. Of course, it’s a small sample, so, that’s like, literally, 2 batted balls.
His xFIP for the game was 3.93. His SIERA was 3.86.
For me, a guy who trusts data over my own eyes (nearly everyone else’s), that seems like a reasonable assessment of how he pitched this game – good, but not great. The Giants just didn’t hit him.
But I’ll take a 3.9 runs per 9 Kershaw at this point. That’s still going to stabilize the rotation and win some games
āā¦ a reasonable assessment of how he pitched this game ā good, but not great. The Giants just didnāt hit him.ā
Donāt want to shit on Kershawās game, solid start, good for him and his team. But Iād like to wait and see if he can maintain, and if he can do it against a more dangerous lineup. A few batters misssed on some pitches. For as well as SFG has played up to this point, there is not one guy in that lineup that scares a pitcher; nobody in the lineup where a pitcher must show extra caution. If I had to choose, Iād say Lee because of his above average hit tool and his ability to be a menace on the bases. Ramos, Flores, Chapman when heās back: solid but wonāt keep a hurler up at nightā¦
I donāt post much but read this blog often. Not sure Iāve āseenā you around here before CB, but I like your posts and your ability to make the advanced stats make sense relative to the subject. Some advanced stats are bullshit, IMHO, but some are good and tell a larger story; appreciate it and I glad someone here does thisā¦.
Which leads me to shoutout to the two dudes that keep me updated on the minor leagues; Jeff Dominque and Mark Timmons; donāt get to watch much MiLB so itās cool that these guys do watch, keep us all updated.
Shoutouts to all the dads out there and here at LADT; donāt know the cats here with the offspring but have a good day nonetheless.
Shoutout to OldBear, hope heās Feelinā and doinā wellā¦.Singing the Blue, funny dudeā¦dodgerdad, loves his team, the enthusiasm and never met an exclamation point he didnāt like!ā¦.dodgerpatch, Duke not Snider, Forte, Pasadena Dan, Bluto and anyone else I missed; I like to shoutout (obviously) so Iām sure Iāll shoutout to anybody I missed in the futureā¦.oh, canāt forget Jorge V and his quick quips and āloveā for all things SDPā¦.that dude cracks me up!
Peaceā¦.cheers and a Happy Fathers Day to allā¦Sunday 4pm game, may WE all enjoyā¦.
Fa graphs shows 6 hard hit balls out of a possible 18 events. Hence, the33%. Basically, the league average. Like you say the medium contact was up.
Are you a fan or a stat spitter?
Me?
Both? Not sure what a “stat spitter” is, but stats are the way the game is measured.
Maybe you’ve heard of a few?
60 home runs
61 home runs
73 home runs
56 game hitting streak
59 consecutive scoreless innings
3000 strikeouts
Etc
Oklahoma City 8, Albuquerque 7
Great Lakes 9, Wisconsin 2
Rancho Cucamonga 6, Inland Empire 4
ACL Dodgers 8, ACL Athletics 0
Journeyman veteran Michael Chavis hits for the cycle for Oklahoma City
Mike Sirota and Kendall George lead Great Lakes offense
Sunday schedule
Wisconsin (Ryan Birchard) at Great Lakes (Maddux Bruns), 10:05 AM PST
Tulsa (TBA) at Springfield (TBD), 10:05 AM PST, completion of Saturdayās game
Tulsa (Jackson Ferris) at Springfield (TBA), game 2
Rancho Cucamonga (Jakob Wright) at Inland Empire (Peyton Olejnik), 2:05 PM PST
Oklahoma City (Bobby Miller) at Albuquerque (TBA), 5:05 PM PST
For more detailed recaps,stats,schedules, daily standings and box scores for Dodger minor league teams go to the top of this page and cIick on MINOR LEAGUE AFFLIATES.
Kersh proves you don’t have to throw in the high 90’s to win in the major leagues. Shades of Jamie Moyer. Nice game for Ohtani too. 25 bombs with 91 games left. Might hit 50 again.
Love Kersh, who doesn’t?
I feel like the perfect Kershaw-into-the-sunset script is unfolding. Kershaw gives us 10-12 outings this season and joins the 3,000 club.
He’ll want to pitch in the playoff but will gracefully defer to others more qualified.
Who are all these haters and doubters?
Maybe I don’t get out much, but at least from what I read here and occasionally Jeff’s site, I’ve not seen much if any Kerhsaw “hate.”
No one hates Kershaw.
Are there doubts about his ability to dominate in a rotation that will already be stacked when the playoffs roll around?
You’d be delusional if you didn’t have some doubt.
His FB velo last night was 86-88, down from 89-90 of his prior starts. Kike threw a fastball last night at 87!
His K% is under 7. His BB% is over 3.
Maybe he’s a different pitcher. Maybe last night was not an anomaly, but shows how he has successfully adapted to the lower velocities of his pitches, and is effective through guile.
I hope so. There’s nothing I’d like to see more as a Dodger fan than Kershaw being instrumental in winning a WS and going out on top. It’d be the perfect storybook ending to a HOF career.
His current stuff, as it is, does give me concerns.
That doesn’t make me a hater.
I am not going to name names, but some have expressed that they want Clayton Gone.
“His K% is under 7. His BB% is over 3.”
Those are K/9 and BB/9 which is much different than K% and BB%.
K% and BB% are much more useful than K/9 and BB/9. That’s because not all innings are equal.
Take Pitcher A: 1 inning, 3 batters up and 3 K’s. That’s a 27 K/9 and a 100% K%.
Then Pitcher B who also pitches 1 inning with 3 K’s but who gives up a bunch of base runners. Say, 2 walks and 2 hits. Plus an error. They will have a K/9 equal to Pitcher A’s (27) but their strikeout performances were far from equal as Pitcher B K’d only 3 of 7 batters (43%).
Equal K/9 :27 and 27
Different K%: 100 and 43
K% accurately shows the difference in performance. K/9 inflates the perception of poor performances.
Use percents, not per 9
UPDATE ABOVE:
I did not have time to do it this AM, but I changed the picture.
Love it!
Here’s the thing about the current version of Clayton Kershaw. After hitting 91 MPH in his previous start, Clayton Kershaw did not throw a single pitch at or above 90āÆmph during his outing against the San Francisco Giants. So, there is less margin for error. In the playoffs, I think he will pair well with Sheehan or Ohtani.
7:10 PM ET
Giants (41-30)
Dodgers (42-29)
SP Kyle Harrison L
1-1 4.56 ERA
SP Dustin May R
3-4 4.46 ERA
.Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
SS Mookie Betts R
RF T. Hernandez R
1B F. Freeman L
CF Andy Pages R
2B Tommy Edman S
LF E. Hernandez R
C D. Rushing L
3B Miguel Rojas R
85Ā° Wind 10 mph Out
Rumor has it that Ohtani may be back THIS week!
Devers to the Giants?
Crazy trade.
It almost certainly makes the Giants better in the short-term and the contract will be underwater in the the long-term. Of course, this is true for basically every long-term contact – players are “underpaid” at the beginning and “overpaid” at the end. Teams just hope the total value balances out.
Baseball Trade Values has the Devers contract as $40 million negative – meaning it’s not expected to balance out. That $40 million is spread over 8+ years, though. So, less than $5 million per year. That’s basically nothing.
The Giants didn’t give up too much for Devers. The package going back BTV valued at just $2 million. Still, trading $2 million for -$40 million isn’t a thing I would usually recommend.
Should be pointed out that projecting a player’s performance and, then, their value is not an exact science, thus, reasonable people can disagree on it.
What really can’t be reasonably disagreed on is that the Giants just added an impact bat to their lineup.
As for the issues surrounding Devers – I don’t get into that stuff. From outside we don’t really know what’s going on there.
I am sure, though, that plenty of people who are trashing Devers also complain loudly about things at their jobs. And the “I’d do whatever was asked of me for millions of dollars” doesn’t sway me either. Hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people in the world would definitely switch places with the people complaining about their jobs.
Anyway, the Giants just got better.
Devers became a malcontent in Boston because he wanted to play 3B… when statistically speaking, he was the worst 3B in baseball.
The savage is going to play 1B in SF… or maybe DH.
Good riddance.
This is a high-risk move…
High risk, yesā but high reward is there tooā¦
Weāve heard stories about clubhouse discontent, but as you say on many occasions, we donāt always know the whole story. Iāll definitely concede it was serious enough for BOS to do this and get a return that doesnāt seem like much from SFG. Getting out of that big $ deal probably factored into Breslowās reasoning also, along with the baggage created by Devers when he expressed his feelings on where he should play in the field.
SFG needed to do something. Solid pitching, a bullpen thatās maybe overachieving but is sound so far ā this team needs a big bat and Iād say itās worth the risk with what it gave up to get him. The worry, of course, as itās been stated in posts above, is the $ committed. Reports say SFG is picking all of Deversā contract; add the recent big deals committed to Adames and Chapman, thatās where the risk lies. One of those deals likely doesnāt age well, and thereās always a chance 2, or maybe all 3 donāt work out. Props to Gerald Dempsey Posey, not sure itās a total ballsy move, but itās adds risk and the vision of an ominous conclusion if it doesnāt work out. But an .850+ OPS in his good years , a swing that plays to all fields and a fresh start, I donāt think itās impossible to say SFG got better with this deal; how much better, we shall see.
Donāt know if it was Zaidi or Posey, but it was good to lock up Webb to a relatively team-friendly dealā¦
Good luck to your Pacersā¦is Indy lit or what? Howās the mood after game 4?
Salutā¦
May….. Again!
May not looking good again. Through 30 batters faced just 3 K’s and 4 BB’s. Not a recipe for success.
The team knows more about him than I do, of course, but it’s surprising that they are letting him throw so much, 94 pitches today – including many in high stress situations. I hope the team is balancing his future health with current needs.
Also, it needs to be said MVPages!
Not sure how much the team is concerned about May’s future health. They need him to throw innings now because the bullpen is already worn down.
Hopefully, in the next few weeks, Snell, Glasnow and Shohei will be back in the rotation and May might not even have a spot at that point.
He’s a free agent after this season. I doubt they’ll offer him a contract and I’m sure they won’t give him a QO (not at something over 20 mil for a season). So, as cold hearted as this may sound, “it’s a business”. They need his innings now so they’ll push him.
It’s also a human being’s health and livelihood.
He was just fine.
Ohtani pitching tomorrow
Back to back series wins vs SD and SF….
NOW
WE GO
Cheers to big Dodgers fan JJ Spaun for winning our Nations Open Championship. Heart of a champion!!!
Cleared for first pitching start
June 15, 2025
The Dodgers announced that Ohtani (elbow) will serve as the team’s starting pitcher for Monday’s game against the Padres.
“For the first time since making his last appearance as a pitcher with the Angels on Aug. 23, 2023 before undergoing his second career Tommy John surgery less than a month later, Ohtani will step back on an MLB mound. The Dodgers initially planned to have Ohtani throw at least one more simulated game this week before potentially clearing him to serve as a two-way player, but the right-hander reportedly pushed to resume pitching in MLB games, and the front office and medical staffs were comfortable honoring the request, per DodgerBlue.com. Though Ohtani tossed 44 pitches over three innings in his most recent sim game this past Monday, manager Dave Roberts said that the 30-year-old will operate as an opener in his first start, according to Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register. With that in mind, Ohtani might be limited to as little as one inning Monday, and he’ll likely be built up gradually over the course of multiple outings before he’s capable of handling a traditional starter’s workload. In the meantime, Ohtani will continue to serve as the Dodgers’ everyday designated hitter on his non-pitching days. He closed out the weekend on a high note, going 3-for-3 with a walk and two runs in Sunday’s 5-4 win over the Giants”.