Clayton Kershaw
Even at 38, Kershaw's twilight numbers tell the story of baseball's most dominant lefthander of the 2010s. That 2016 season — a 1.69 ERA with a staggering 247 ERA+ — ranks among the greatest pitching campaigns in modern history, 147 percent better than league average.
The three Cy Youngs and MVP award only scratch the surface. Kershaw's career 164 ERA+ means he's been 64 percent better than average across nearly two decades, a mark of sustained excellence that separates legends from very good pitchers. His 2.53 career ERA in the offensive environment of his era puts him in rarified air.
What's remarkable isn't just the peak dominance, but the longevity. At 223 wins and 3,052 strikeouts, Kershaw has built a Hall of Fame resume that bridges the gap between the steroids era and today's analytics-driven game.
Career · Hitting
18 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | LAD | 22 | 29 | 0 | 0 | .069 | .138 | 18 |
| 2009 | LAD | 31 | 48 | 0 | 2 | .104 | .261 | 35 |
| 2010 | LAD | 32 | 55 | 0 | 1 | .055 | .126 | 17 |
| 2011 | LAD | 33 | 71 | 0 | 4 | .225 | .492 | 68 |
| 2012 | LAD | 34 | 58 | 0 | 2 | .207 | .454 | 63 |
| 2013 | LAD | 35 | 77 | 1 | 10 | .182 | .501 | 70 |
| 2014 | LAD | 27 | 63 | 0 | 3 | .175 | .442 | 63 |
| 2015 | LAD | 34 | 71 | 0 | 2 | .127 | .317 | 44 |
| 2016 | LAD | 23 | 46 | 0 | 3 | .174 | .387 | 52 |
| 2017 | LAD | 27 | 49 | 0 | 2 | .184 | .449 | 60 |
| 2018 | LAD | 27 | 46 | 0 | 7 | .239 | .622 | 85 |
| 2019 | LAD | 29 | 49 | 0 | 1 | .102 | .242 | 32 |
| 2020 | LAD | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2021 | LAD | 24 | 36 | 0 | 3 | .222 | .465 | 64 |
| 2022 | LAD | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2023 | LAD | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2024 | LAD | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2025 | LAD | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| Career | 464 | 698 | 1 | 40 | .162 | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
18 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | LAD | 22 | 107.7 | 5 | 5 | 4.26 | 101 | 100 | 1.495 |
| 2009 | LAD | 31 | 171.0 | 8 | 8 | 2.79 | 154 | 185 | 1.228 |
| 2010 | LAD | 32 | 204.3 | 13 | 10 | 2.91 | 140 | 212 | 1.179 |
| 2011 | LAD | 33 | 233.3 | 21 | 5 | 2.28 | 173 | 248 | 0.977 |
| 2012 | LAD | 33 | 227.7 | 14 | 9 | 2.53 | 158 | 229 | 1.023 |
| 2013 | LAD | 33 | 236.0 | 16 | 9 | 1.83 | 211 | 232 | 0.915 |
| 2014 | LAD | 27 | 198.3 | 21 | 3 | 1.77 | 211 | 239 | 0.857 |
| 2015 | LAD | 33 | 232.7 | 16 | 7 | 2.13 | 185 | 301 | 0.881 |
| 2016 | LAD | 21 | 149.0 | 12 | 4 | 1.69 | 247 | 172 | 0.725 |
| 2017 | LAD | 27 | 175.0 | 18 | 4 | 2.31 | 188 | 202 | 0.949 |
| 2018 | LAD | 26 | 161.3 | 9 | 5 | 2.73 | 152 | 155 | 1.041 |
| 2019 | LAD | 29 | 178.3 | 16 | 5 | 3.03 | 148 | 189 | 1.043 |
| 2020 | LAD | 10 | 58.3 | 6 | 2 | 2.16 | 206 | 62 | 0.840 |
| 2021 | LAD | 22 | 121.7 | 10 | 8 | 3.55 | 120 | 144 | 1.019 |
| 2022 | LAD | 22 | 126.3 | 12 | 3 | 2.28 | 174 | 137 | 0.942 |
| 2023 | LAD | 24 | 131.7 | 13 | 5 | 2.46 | 176 | 137 | 1.063 |
| 2024 | LAD | 7 | 30.0 | 2 | 2 | 4.50 | 91 | 24 | 1.500 |
| 2025 | LAD | 23 | 112.7 | 11 | 2 | 3.36 | 124 | 84 | 1.216 |
| Career | 455 | 2855.3 | 223 | 96 | — | — | 3052 | — | |
Each pitch type this pitcher throws regularly, placed by how the ball moves — sideways break across, rise or drop down the side. Each dotted ring holds about the middle 85% of the league’s pitches of that type, so a cluster sitting outside its ring is movement most pitchers don’t have.
The dots — a sample of this pitcher’s regular-season pitches, placed by movement: left–right is horizontal break, up–down is induced vertical break (what the pitch does beyond gravity). The view is handedness-neutral — positive break is toward the pitcher’s arm side for lefties and righties alike, so every sinker runs right and every sweeper breaks left, whoever throws it.
The dotted rings — about the middle 85% of where each pitch type lands league-wide (a 2-standard-deviation spread), measured from 7.5 million regular-season pitches since 2015. A cluster sitting well outside its ring is movement most of the league doesn’t get. Spring training and the postseason are excluded.
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.