Gary A. Vasquez-USA Today Sports
Clayton Kershaw is the man. There is no doubt the ace left hander who has one Cy Young and could get a few more before his career is over is the calming force in the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ starting rotation.
Sure, he’s had a couple of not so impressive starts this early season, but he is human. When you look around the NL, or the entire MLB for that matter, many pitchers with high expectations like David Price, Roy Halladay, Tim Lincecum or even Justin Verlander are susceptible to rocky beginnings.
But after Kershaw’s last performance on Sunday, an eight inning, four-hit handcuffing of the Milwaukee Brewers, it’s not out of the realm to say Kershaw is getting into his groove. If he would have hit a home run in this game you could put it on the mantle with his opening day performance, which was a dominating 4-0 win.
The blue crew has so many question marks in the bottom half of their rotation so far this year; manager Don Mattingly must feel like he’s got a day off when number 22 takes the mound.
It is exactly what an ace should mean to his team and that should set a precedent for the other four guys that follow. If the Dodgers are to reach that pinnacle at the top of the NL then Kershaw will need to perform like this more times than not.
It’s looking like no one will have to worry about that after his third win of the season for the Dodgers.
Kenny Bristow is a Los Angeles Dodgers writer for www.RantSports.com.
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