One of the best pitchers of his generation is 9-10 with a 4.32 E. R. A. in the playoffs.
LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw watched the last outs of the World Series on Sunday night from the top stairs of the home dugout, his arms draped across a railing. If these were his final moments with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and they very well could have been, they were glum (again) and frustrating (again), another postseason ending in ruin.
Later, as the Boston Red Sox hoisted the Commissioner’s Trophy out on the field at Dodger Stadium, Kershaw ducked inside a small interview room not far from the clubhouse so he could offer his instant forensics on a series that had gone sideways for him and his team.
“Just some bad pitches in there,” he said.
Kershaw, a rangy left-hander who has spent his entire 11-year career with the Dodgers, is one of the greatest pitchers of his generation. A seven-time All-Star, he has three Cy Young Awards. He was the National League’s Most Valuable Player in 2014, a rarity for a pitcher. And he was instrumental in helping the Dodgers reach the World Series the past two seasons.
But the month of October has not been kind to him. In the postseason, his earned-run average tends to inflate like a balloon. It is a strange phenomenon — cruel, even — for a great player to suddenly look so mediocre this time of year, but it happened again, on the biggest stage, as much as Kershaw had hoped to swim his way up from the depths.
“Anytime you lose the last game when you’re in the playoffs, it’s no fun,” he said. “So, yeah, just some disappointment right now for sure.”
Kershaw started two games in the World Series, including Game 5 on Sunday, and was the losing pitcher in both. In all, he threw 11 innings, giving up 14 hits and 9 earned runs. On Sunday, with the Dodgers facing elimination, the Red Sox mashed three home runs off him in a 5-1 win, which clinched the series, four games to one.
Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts addressed the team in the clubhouse after the game and cited Kershaw specifically in his remarks, he said, telling everyone in the room how much Kershaw has meant to the organization and how he has always conducted himself with great character.
“Clayton exemplifies what it is to be a Dodger,” Roberts said.
If it was not exactly a farewell, it seemed to have that general feel — a just-in-case farewell? — and for good reason. With the loss, the clock started ticking on an important deadline for Kershaw, who has less than a week to decide whether he will exercise the opt-out clause on the remaining two years of his contract with the Dodgers.
“I haven’t made the decision yet,” Kershaw said. “We have three days to talk between us and the Dodgers, and see what happens. Then, we’ll go from there.”
His current deal calls for him to make $65 million over the next two seasons, which is a lot of moola for a 30-year-old pitcher with high mileage and diminished velocity, but let the speculation begin. Perhaps, after dealing with injuries this season, Kershaw wants long-term security. Or perhaps, after so many postseason letdowns here, he might consider a change of scenery. It is not impossible, for example, to imagine the Texas Rangers as a potential suitor, since Kershaw and his wife are both from the Dallas area. After finishing in last place in the American League West, the Rangers will want to upgrade their roster — and they have money to spend. They are also moving into a new stadium in 2020.
At the same time, the mere idea of Kershaw in another uniform seems strange to some of his teammates.
“Clayton is the Dodgers,” the pitcher Rich Hill said. “He’s the heart and soul of this organization. So I think when you look at a guy like that, who’s put it on the line for so many years and has had so much success here as a Dodger, I just hope that they do the right thing.”
Kenley Jansen, the team’s All-Star closer, said he understood that baseball was a business, and that Kershaw would ultimately do what was best for his family. But Jansen also said he felt fortunate that he had been able to spend so much time around him, learning from him.
“He might go down as one of the best lefties to ever play this game,” Jansen said, adding: “I don’t want to be selfish, but hopefully he will be here next year.”
If Sunday’s loss marked the end of Kershaw’s tenure with the Dodgers, his legacy will be complicated, divided between his regular-season brilliance (153-69 with a 2.39 E. R. A) and his postseason woes (9-10 with a 4.32 E. R. A.). He has especially labored to find his form in playoff games when the Dodgers are facing elimination, losing four of his six career starts in those situations with a 6.06 E. R. A., according to Elias Sports Bureau.
It was, sadly for Kershaw, more of the same on Sunday night. He was not awful — the Red Sox mustered seven hits in seven innings against him — but he was undone by home runs.
Playoff baseball can be hard on even the most accomplished players. No one is immune from its rigors, not even Kershaw, who watched the final moments of the game unfold without him, a spectator for another postseason cut short, his future suddenly uncertain.
