Koufax

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Sorry we are a day late, asthma, plus a cold, plus smoke in the air from fireworks equals bad breathing.

Ask Jaime Jarrín

For the next part of our “Ask….” series. Jaime Jarrín, the Spanish-language voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers, for 64 seasons before retiring after the 2022 season, will answer selected questions from readers. Jarrín is in the Baseball Hall of Fame as a broadcaster and was the longtime interpreter for Fernando Valenzuela. Please send your questions to [email protected] before 10 p.m. Friday.

Koufax or Kershaw?

When Clayton Kershaw reached the 3,000 strikeout mark, Bill Plaschke wrote a column saying it clinched Kershaw being the greatest pitcher in Dodgers history, greater than Sandy Koufax.

I could give you pages of stats and biographical information on both men, but I’m guessing most of you already know about them. Books have been written about Koufax, and books will be written about Kershaw.

A few weeks ago, I wrote “Kershaw and Koufax are the two best pitchers in Dodgers history,” and I got inundated with emails from angry Koufax fans, wondering why I would mention them in the same sentence, let alone list Kershaw first (um, alphabetical order). So, I broach the topic very carefully.

The thing to keep in mind is they are both great pitchers. Both first-ballot Hall of Famers. Both have won World Series, Cy Young Awards and MVP awards.

So how do you determine who is the best? It depends on how much you value certain things. Let’s look at some arguments.

1. Koufax had only five great seasons, and they all came when the rules of the time favored the pitcher.

2. In his prime, Koufax pitched 300 innings a season and had multiple complete games (Koufax had 27 complete games in 1965 and 1966. Kershaw has had 25 complete games in his career and never pitched more than 236 innings in a season). Keep in mind that Kershaw never wanted to come out of games, he was really an old-school pitcher stuck in modern times.

3. Koufax is the best postseason pitcher in history with an 0.95 ERA in eight postseason games, all in the World Series. Of all pitchers with multiple Cy Young Awards, Kershaw is easily the worst in the postseason, going 13-13 with a 4.49 ERA. If we just limit it to the World Series, it’s not much better, as he is 3-2 with a 4.46 ERA.

4. Koufax pitched in three World Series that the Dodgers won. Kershaw pitched in only one.

5. Koufax didn’t have to pitch in multiple postseason rounds like Kershaw did. If he had to pitch in three rounds just to get to the World Series, his numbers likely wouldn’t be as good.

6. Kershaw had a much, much longer career where he was one of the best pitchers in baseball. Depending on what you call a great season, it’s 10, 11 or 12. Koufax had “just” the five.

7. Kershaw has a career ERA+ of 155, meaning he was 55% better than a league average pitcher in his career. Koufax’s was 131, meaning he was 31% better. Of course, Kershaw didn’t pitch into the eight and ninth all that often, helping save his ERA somewhat.

Those are just a few of the arguments. As to what I think? If I had to pick one, in their prime, to start a winner-take-all game, I’d pick Koufax. If you said “You can have this guy’s regular-season career, starting from Game 1, for your team,” I’d go with Kershaw. So, it depends on what you consider great. They were both great.

Read Plaschke’s column, which has several good arguments, by clicking here.

Have you read it? Then please vote in our survey, “Who was better, Clayton Kershaw or Sandy Koufax?” Heck, you can vote even if you didn’t read Plaschke’s column. You can vote by clicking here.

Swept by the Astros

Of all teams to be swept by, it had to be the Houston (no relation) Astros? They did expose some problems the Dodgers have had all season: Banged-up players and bad pitching.

Max Muncy, who was their best hitter in the last six weeks, is on the IL (more on that below). Tommy Edman has a broken toe. Teoscar Hernández fouled a ball off his left foot Saturday, and is still plagued by the groin injury that put him on the IL earlier this season. He isn’t close to 100%. Kiké Hernández went on the IL Monday with elbow inflammation. Mookie Betts hasn’t seemed to recover from losing 25 pounds just before the season and is hitting a paltry (by Betts’ standards) .252/.324/.397. Last season he hit .289/.372/.491. He is currently on track for the worst offensive season of his career. Add in the fact that Teoscar is just a brutal fielder in right, and you have to wonder if a move back to right is being considered, not that they’d talk openly about it. I mean, it was so bad that Michael Conforto hit fifth Sunday.

Pitching wise, Ben Casparius is suddenly having trouble getting people out. Noah Davis, with a career ERA of 8.95 was on the staff and gave up 10 runs Friday. Most of the guys in the bullpen are having bad seasons compared to their career norms. The bullpen ERA (4.41) is 24th of the 30 teams. In the rotation, they have one reliable guy (Yoshinobu Yamamoto), two erratic guys (Dustin May and Kershaw), one guy who might be solid, but it’s too soon to tell (Emmet Sheehan), one guy who pitches well but hasn’t gone more than two innings (Shohei Ohtani) and a bunch of wishes and prayers for everyone else.

We keep hearing that Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell are returning soon (Glasnow perhaps this week), but I’ll believe it when I see it, and given their history, how long before they get hurt again?

Does this mean it is time to panic? Of course not. Despite all of the above, the Dodgers have the second-best record in baseball, a six-game lead over the Giants and seven-game lead over the Padres. They will make the postseason. If you recall, they struggled at times with similar issues last season, and that season ended OK if I remember correctly.

Andrew Friedman has shown that he is not afraid the make moves at the trade deadline. You can count on a move or two before the deadline this season (July 31 at 3 p.m. PT). The roster right now will not be the roster on day one of the postseason. So, let’s see what happens.

Max Muncy injured

You have to feel bad for Max Muncy. He finally had turned things around and was one of the team’s best hitters again. Then, his knee is injured when Michael Taylor of the White Sox slides into it while trying to steal third. It looked terrible, as your knee isn’t designed to bend that direction. It looked like he had torn everything in his knee and would be out for the season.

However, the Dodgers say an MRI exam showed just a bone bruise and he should be back in six weeks. Hopefully, that’s what happens and he doesn’t lose his swing while he’s recovering. However, the Dodgers have been historically vague when talking about injuries. If you remember, Muncy hurt his elbow on the last day of the 2021, in a similar situation, only the runner collided with his elbow at first instead of his knee at third.

After that injury, the MRI was described as the best-case scenario, and Dave Roberts said, “I just don’t want to, we don’t want to, close the door on a potential down-the-road postseason appearance.” Muncy and the club kept insisting he could return for the postseason if the Dodgers advanced to the World Series.

A month or so after the Dodgers were eliminated from the postseason, Muncy said he had torn the UCL in his elbow and knew he wasn’t going to play in the postseason.

So, hopefully his new injury is the best-case scenario, but I’m not holding my breath. With this injury, the Dodgers said they won’t be actively exploring a deal for a third baseman since Muncy will be back, meaning we will know a lot more about the accuracy of what they are saying if they actually don’t trade for a third baseman.

All-Stars

The five Dodgers who will be on the All-Star team this season:

Starters
Freddie Freeman
Shohei Ohtani
Will Smith

Pitchers
Clayton Kershaw
Yoshinobu Yamamoto

Kershaw was named as the commissioner’s “Legend Pick.”

Christian Walker

Christian Walker continues to be a Dodger killer. He had a big series for the Astros, and is one of only nine opponents with at least 20 homers at Dodger Stadium. The list:

Barry Bonds, 29
George Foster, 23
Henry Aaron, 22
Dale Murphy, 22
Mike Schmidt, 22
Willie Stargell, 21
Paul Goldschmidt, 20
Dave Kingman, 20
Christian Walker, 20

In his career against the Dodgers, Walker is hitting .259/.318/.563 with 10 doubles, 28 homers and 64 RBIs in 340 plate appearances. Some have emailed wondering if they should just intentionally walk Walker in every at bat. No. That would be foolish. Just walk him when the situation calls for it (second and third, one out, for example, depending on who is pitching). There is no one in baseball history you should walk every at bat.

In case you missed it

Dodgers pitchers Clayton Kershaw, Yoshinobu Yamamoto named to all-star game roster

Hernández: Dodgers must aggressively pursue pitchers before the trade deadline

With Max Muncy expected back from knee injury, Dodgers stick with trade deadline plans

Max Muncy heads to IL with what Dodgers are calling a left knee bone bruise

And finally

Jaime Jarrín’s Hall of Fame speech. Watch and listen here.

Until next time…

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

The slider was sizzling. The hitter was frozen. The strikeout was roaring.

With an 84-mph pitch on the black in the sixth inning against the Chicago White Sox Wednesday at a rollicking Dodger Stadium, Clayton Kershaw struck out Vinny Capra looking to become the 20th player in baseball history to record 3,000 strikeouts.

As impressive as the pitch itself was the cementing of a truth that has taken nearly two decades to become evident.

Clayton Kershaw is the greatest pitcher in Dodgers history.

Clayton Kershaw records his 3,000th career strikeout as the Dodgers take on the Chicago White Sox at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.

(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

Greater than even the great Sandy Koufax.

Gasp. Scream. Please.

This opinion appeared here three years ago and was swarmed with a barrage of emphatic and mostly emotional arguments for Koufax.

How dare you diss our Sandy! Koufax won more championships! Koufax never choked in the postseason! Koufax was more dominant!

All true, Koufax being a tremendous human being worthy of every syllable of praise. But as Wednesday so clearly proved in front of a history-thirsty crowd at Chavez Ravine, Kershaw has done something that any defense of Koufax can not equal.

He’s endured. He’s taken the ball far more than Koufax while outlasting him in virtually every impact pitching category.

The Dodgers’ 5-4 victory Wednesday was the perfect illustration of the grinding that has lifted Kershaw to the Dodger heavens. He didn’t have his best stuff, he was battered by one of baseball’s worst teams for four runs on nine hits, but he fought through six innings to dramatically record his third strikeout and end his quest for 3,000 on his final hitter with his 100th pitch.

“I made it interesting, for sure,” Kershaw said afterward. “I made it take too long.”

When he took the mound at the start of the sixth, just one strikeout shy of 3,000, the crowd erupted in deafening screams previously only matched by a World Series win. When he breathtakingly struck out Capra — this was his last hitter regardless — he stalked off the mound and sighed and offered the thunderous crowd a sweaty wave.

“It’s a little bit harder when you’re actually trying to strike people out,” said Kershaw with a chuckle. “Running back out there in the sixth and hearing that crowd roar was up there for me, special moments…It was an amazing night.”

A young Dodgers fan holds up a sign that reads “3,000” to celebrate Clayton Kershaw’s strikeout milestone.

(Luke Johnson/Los Angeles Times)

In all, it was pure Kershaw, and it has been unmatched even by his legendary predecessor.

Koufax was a meteor, streaking across the sky for the greatest five seasons of any pitcher in baseball history.

Kershaw, meanwhile, has become his own planet, looming above for 18 years with a permanent glow that is unmatched in Dodgers lore.

Koufax was an amazing flash. Kershaw has been an enduring flame.

Koufax was Shaq. Kershaw is Kobe.

When this was previously written, manager Dave Roberts waffled on the question of whether Kershaw was the greatest Dodger pitcher ever.

This time, not so much.

“Obviously, Sandy is Sandy,” he said Wednesday. “You’re talking about 18 years, though, and the career of the body of work. It’s hard to not say Clayton, you know, is the greatest Dodger of all time.”

When one talks about the GOAT of various sports, indeed, a key element is always longevity. Tom Brady played 23 seasons, LeBron James has played 22 seasons and Babe Ruth played 22 seasons.

One cannot ignore the fact that Kershaw, in his 18th season, has played six more seasons than Koufax while pitching 463 more regular season innings. With his 3,000 strikeouts he has also fanned 604 more batters than Koufax, the equivalent of 22 more games composed solely of strikeouts, an unreal edge.

In the great Koufax debate, Kershaw is clearly being punished for his postseason struggles, and indeed his 4.49 postseason ERA doesn’t compare to Koufax’ 0.95 ERA.

But look at the sample size. Kershaw has pitched in 39 postseason games while Koufax has appeared in just eight. Kershaw has had 13 postseason starts that have lasted past the sixth inning while Koufax has had five.

Kershaw has pitched in multiple playoff rounds in multiple seasons, while Koufax never pitched in more than one playoff round per season, greatly increasing Kershaw’s opportunity for failure.

Kershaw has indeed stunk up the joint in some of the most devastating postseason losses in Dodger history. But he has taken the mound for nearly five times as many big games as Koufax and, in the end, he has just one fewer World Series championship.

“I’ve been through it, a lot, ups and downs here, more downs that I care to admit,” said Kershaw. “The fans … it was overwhelming to feel that.”

In the end, the strongest argument for Koufax supporters is the seemingly obvious answer to a question. If you had to win one game, would you start Koufax or Kershaw?

Of course you’d pitch Koufax … if your parameters were limited to five years. But if you wanted to pick a starter and you had to do it inside a two-decade window, you would take Kershaw.

Then there are those rarely recited stats that further the argument for Kershaw over Koufax: Kershaw has a better career ERA, 2.51 to 2.76. Kershaw has a better winning percentage, .697 to .655. And despite playing in an era where individual pitching wins are greatly cheapened, Kershaw has 51 more wins than Koufax.

How rare is 3,000 strikeouts? More pitchers have won 300 games. Only three other pitchers have done so left-handed. Only two pitchers in the last 100 years have done it with one team.

Now for the intangibles. If this is indeed the golden age of Dodger baseball — as Andrew Friedman so deftly described it — then the guardian of the era has been Kershaw.

The clubhouse culture is borne of his constantly present professionalism. The work ethic starts with him. The accountability is a reflection of him. For 18 years, through injury and embarrassment as well as fame and fortune, he has never complained, never blamed, never pointed fingers, never brought distraction.

And he always shows up for work. Every day. Every game. Every season. Clayton Kershaw has always been there, which is why he will be there forever on a statue that will surely be erected in the center field plaza next to the bronze figures of Jackie Robinson and, yes, of course, Sandy Koufax.

It is unlikely the Dodgers would ever script the words, “The greatest Dodger pitcher” on the base of his statue. They are understandably sensitive to Koufax and his legacy and importance to a legion of longtime fans.

But they know, just as those fans lucky enough to be at Dodger Stadium Wednesday know it.

They weren’t just watching greatness. They were watching The Greatest.