The Dodgers Go “All-In” With Pocket Aces

The 2017 Dodgers have upped the “ante” this season with two of the most dominant southpaws in the MLB: Clayton Kershaw and Alex Wood. Despite what critics have been saying about him this year, Kershaw has maintained dominance with a record of 13-2 in 18 games played, a 2.19 ERA and 0.89 WHIP with 146 strikeouts to boot.  Two nights ago, on Independence Day, he pitched another solid performance enroute to a victory against the division rival Arizona Diamondbacks allowing no runs on 2 hits with 11 strikeouts through 7 shutout innings.  He also had a no-hitter going into the 7th inning before allowing an infield hit that may have been perceived by some as a mistake by rookie, Cody Bellinger.  Regardless, the Dodgers got the victory and increased their lead in the NL West.

The biggest surprise of the season, however, has been Alex Wood.  The 26-year-old lefty has not only been good this year, he has been spectacular.  Wood has yet to lose a game and is 10-0 in 15 games played with a 1.67 ERA and 0.89 WHIP while striking out 97.  Like his counterpart, he recently dominated the second place Diamondbacks in a nail-biting 1-0 win last night, pitching 7 shutout innings on 3 hits and striking out 10.  The “dynamic duo” now has a combined 23 wins and only 2 losses on the season.

To put their success into perspective, Kershaw and Wood, respectively, are ranked: #1 and #4 in wins, #3 and #1 (unofficial)* in ERA, and tied for second (unofficial for Wood)* in WHIP.   In the National League, only the Washington Nationals have two pitchers officially ranked in the top ten for wins (Scherzer #4 with 10 wins and Strasburg tied #9 with 9 wins), two for ERA (Scherzer #1 with 1.94 and Gonzalez #6 with 2.77) and two for WHIP (Scherzer #1 with 0.77 and Strasburg #8 with 1.08).  In the American League, only the Cleveland Indians have two pitchers ranked in the top ten for WHIP (Kluber #4 with 0.97 and Carrasco #6 with 1.05).

And, if what these two have already accomplished so far this season isn’t enough, Clayton Kershaw has become the first Dodger pitcher to enter the All-Star break with 13 wins since Orel Hershiser in 1988.  Alex Wood, on the otherhand (or rather the “same” hand), is only the 5th Dodger pitcher in franchise history to start a season 10-0.  Who was the most recent Dodger pitcher to start the season 10-0 one may ask?  The answer: Don Newcombe in 1955, which was also the year the Dodgers won their first World Series.

If the Dodgers (57-29) can keep up their exceptional pitching (as well as hitting), it is likely that their opponents will “fold” and could end with a game-winning run “on the river” to earn their 7th World Series victory.

BakoBoyInBlue

*Alex Wood (80.2 innings) is 5.1 innings away from qualifying for the MLB leaderboard.  A pitcher must have 1.0 innings per team game to qualify.