Another Dodger Goes Down – Clayton Kershaw to the DL

It’s been a really rough start to the year for the three “juggernauts” of the National League, with only the Cubs among the Dodgers-Nationals-Cubs trio standing above .500.

But while you could ascribe the majority of the Cubs’ struggles to their own underperformance, for the Dodgers and Nationals, it’s been largely about a flood of injuries. And now there’s another one to add to the mix for the Dodgers:

Knowing very little, that kinda sounds like a “get him some rest”-type injury, given that we know the Dodgers did this all last year with the new 10-day disabled list. This stint could be backdated such that he’d miss only one start. Or it could be a serious injury. I don’t think folks know at this point.

More generally, though, there is concern about Kershaw’s early performance this year and declining velocity as he enters his 30s:

This is notable stuff given that Kershaw was expected to opt out of his current contract with the Dodgers at the end of this season and either enter free agency or, more likely, get a huge new deal from the Dodgers (which would have significant broader market implications – as in … we want to see the Dodgers do that).

It’s weird to see a 2.86 ERA for any pitcher and wonder what the heck is wrong, but such has been the bar with Kershaw. He was very good in 2017, but not quite superhuman, so any decline this year is going to be particularly unnerving for Dodgers fans and Kershaw’s agent.

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Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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