Clayton Kershaw is doing something never seen before in MLB history
Clayton Kershaw is arguably in the midst of the best 6-season run ever seen by a starting pitcher in MLB history. What is really scary is that this year he is on pace to have his best season yet.
Through his first nine starts he has a 1.67 ERA and a 1.35 Fielding Independent Pitching (think of this as what his ERA would look like if he always played in an average park and with an average defense). Even more impressive is that he has 88 strikeouts in 70.0 innings with just 4 walks. Four!
A pitcher is said to be doing well if he strikes out three batters for every walk he gives up. Kershaw is striking out 22 batters for every walk. MLB has never seen anything even remotely close to that. Prior to this season, there have only been 20 pitchers who finished a season with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of at least 7.0 and nobody has ever finished higher than 11.6.
