The Case for Clayton Kershaw
The meteoric rise of Clayton Kershaw certainly got off to a rocky, if not extremely frustrating start in 2009. The left-handed Texan slumbered through a 0-2 start in April with a uninspired 7.29 ERA. The Dodgers could have at that point decided to explore options for the kid, as at only 21 years of age and through slightly less than 30 starts, he hadn’t fully proven that he could handle the mental side of the game. He had yet to show the same swagger and confidence displayed at every level of the game to that point of his career.
LA decided to stick with Kershaw in their rotation, and he turned in what can be acknowledged as a pretty good season.
While that 8-8 record reflects satisfactory performance, a little digging shows that “Kersh” really shone at times and simply dominated at others! document.write(’Joe Torre‘); seemed to handle Kershaw delicately, never letting him exceed seven innings on only one occasion, and keeping a keen eye on his pitch count. While this may have contributed to his lowly win-loss totals, it seemingly kept him fresh all year as he made 30 starts and tossed for 171 innings total.
Kershaw was phenomenal in months that start with ‘J’, by going 5-2 in 11 starts, with a 1.39 ERA and mowing down 62 batsmen at a nearly 1/IP clip.
While I realize in this battle, both are stuck in what seems to be a light-hitting division, this former first round pick has the benefit of tossing against two of the lightest hitting rosters in the bigs (Padres and Giants
). While that doesn’t always end up being the case, it is at least worth mentioning that more than ½ of the Dodgers season games
are to be played in the friendly confines of Dodger Stadium, Petco and AT&T, along with the plus of playing 20+ times versus those squads definitely bodes well for his confidence and continued growth.
Needless to say, we can expect C.K. to fine tune his 2009 stat line, and improve on the .500 win-loss record and strongly place his name alongside some of fantasy’s best SP offerings.
The Case for Matt Cain
Largely forgotten after a ho-hum 2008 season, that saw his confidence get rattled, Matt CainMatt Cain
stormed back with vengeance and utter destruction for opposing hitters. Led by career low ‘s in walks, ERA and WHIP, Cain’s resurgence also contributed to new found career highs in complete games, innings pitched and most importantly, wins.
Now, Cain didn’t bomb his 2008 Giants season, it just seemed as if he had a “one step forward, two steps back” type campaign. He shelled that stigma early by going six innings or deeper in all but three of his starts. (one of those, he left the start with an injury and missed his next start, so it really could be only two!)
Needless to say, Cain is a huge part of the intimidating rotation set forth by the city by the Bay, as they will surely cause headaches and heartache for the competition. Cain would have had an even more impressive line had he not had an erratic September, as he seemed to wear down as the season did.
One way or the other, he pitches extremely well at home, and doesn’t have any glaring tendencies on the road, so he is not just a measure of a pitchers’ park. Cain re-established himself as a worthy fantasy number two option and should he continue to develop with the same dedication shown to his craft, the only knock can be his need to put together a start to finish that doesn’t taper off after the all-star break.
Cain has the fortune of being a teammate of two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, which takes the pressure and expectations off a bit. He isn’t going to be expected to be a slump-breaker, which bodes well for the 25-year old native of Dothan, Alabama .
The Giants are a work in progress no doubt, but with sure-fired young arms like Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner in the mix, they’ll give you little to no break from some nasty stuff.
Fantalytics Final Call
So, what are we looking at here? A fine young left-hander that is entering that magical third season. One that many fantasy slappies (including myself…) believe is the put-up or shut-up season, directing the future of their statistical performance. A 25-year old hard throwing righty who is finally putting it ALL together for an light hitting roster with oodles of potential.
Truth be told, either of these arms would make me tingle with delight should I be perusing my post draft day results; however, I am speaking with the guy that has both of them staring right back in his face, saying…”Who do I take here? I need another strong SP, do I take Clayton, or Cainer?” To that guy, I say…Go with the Dodgers Kershaw.
The fact of the matter is, the dominance that C.K. showed in the mid-months in the bright lights of L.A. is simply a glimpse into the type of goods this kid brings to the table. Plus, a lefty in a light hitting division, full of pitcher friendly parks is only screaming out to me even louder that he is the ultimate choice.
While Matt Cain is no slouch, I simply don’t like how he hasn’t been able to go wire to wire with good numbers and always seems to have an anomaly or two in his season. That is the type of stuff that fantasy gurus try to avoid at all costs.
It’s very difficult to predict the hot streak - and to always pounce on a player at just the right moment, so I’ll always take the guy that is steady year round. While it’s too early to guarantee that this version of the famous Kershaw Knives will be able to cut loose from the pack of rising MLB pitching stars.
The fact that this particular Kershaw knifed himself through adversity - and a rough start to the 2009 MLB season, speaks volumes for both this kids character, and make-up.
Clayton Kershaw’s Fearless Forsyth Foreshadow :
(32 Starts) 186 IP, 15W, 208K, 89BB, 2.86
