Los Angeles Dodgers: How much money has Clayton Kershaw Lost due to injuries?
Los Angeles Dodgers Clayton has arguably been the game’s greatest pitcher over the last decade. However, continuous injuries over the previous three seasons have perhaps finally robbed him of the title “best pitcher on the planet.” Have these nagging injuries also robbed him of millions of dollars?
Fresh off the DL, and after an outing that lasted only five innings, Clayton Kershaw is in the midst of what appears to be another fairly lengthy DL stay. His fastball sat in the high 80’s, and Los Angeles Dodgers fans stomach’s sat in their throats after seeing their beloved ace hit the shelf again.
After his departure, journalists soon flooded the internet with variations of the mediocre “bad back is back” pun. It’s true that the days of Clayton Kershaw throwing 230 innings a season may be gone, but don’t start burying the guy just yet.
While he may have lost a considerable amount of money, he still has the ability to produce a strong second half and perhaps a strong postseason. If so, he may still be on his way to opting out of his current deal.
Kershaw has been historically great. Regular season wise, perhaps the greatest ever. After all, he does hold the lowest career ERA of any pitcher since the “dead-ball era” by a very wide margin. For pitchers who have thrown at least 1,000 career innings, Kershaw’s career ERA of 2.37 trumps the second man on the list, Whitey Ford with a 2.75 ERA by a wide margin.
While I expect his velocity to increase with rest and proper rehabilitation, (you can bet he’ll make a rehab start this time) the guy didn’t look half bad with an 88 MPH heater in his last start.
However, what is any of that worth if the guy can’t stay healthy? Truthfully, not a bunch. After throwing 232.2 innings in 2015, Kershaw hasn’t topped more than 175 innings over the last three seasons. With the way things are going, this year could prove to be his lowest inning output since his rookie campaign. Not the best timing, especially considering he has an opt-out in his contract after this year.
The question remains, just how much money has Clayton Kershaw lost due to injuries? There’s no exact science to this, but I’d say at least a hundred million bucks. Just a couple years ago, it wasn’t hard to see Clayton opting out and receiving a contract, possibly rivaling that of Giancarlo Stanton‘s.
Instead, he joins Matt Harvey (to a lesser degree) as another pitcher who won’t be cashing in as much as expected. This will dampen a bit of the fervor over what was supposed to be an apocalyptic-esque Free Agency Bonanza in the coming off-season.
Even with his recent injury history, a fully healthy Cy Young-caliber campaign may have netted him something somewhat close to his original 215 million dollar deal. Now, fans are wondering if Clayton and his diminished velocity doesn’t want to risk losing the guaranteed remaining 70 million over two years left on his deal. If he suffers another injury or comes back in a diminished form, he may not have the luxury of opting out.
Still, I wouldn’t want to bet against No. 22. Kershaw stated, “I’m not a ‘woe is me, Nobody is going to be feeling sorry for me or us or anything like that.” That’s probably because he’s been the game’s greatest pitcher since Pedro. I wouldn’t feel entirely comfortable betting against a talent like that at age 30.
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Clayton Kershaw still has the chance to cash in with a dominant second half if he can get back and stay on the mound. With the Dodgers inspired play of late, perhaps making up for some of that lost green with championship gold doesn’t seem as far-fetched as it did three weeks ago.