Dodgers Must Rally With Clayton Kershaw Scratched From NLCS Game 2 Start
Dodgers longtime ace Clayton Kershaw has been scratched from his National League Championship Series Game 2 start with back spasms, with rookie Tony Gonsolin replacing him versus the Braves at 3:05 p.m. PT today at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
Before I could gather my thoughts to write my response, I came upon a tweet from my good buddy, Jim Furlong (below).
I get the sentiment behind the tweet, and my guess is that a fair percentage of Dodger fans do too.
The half-written column I'd plan to post this morning was titled, "Reasons for Optimism as Dodgers Face Braves in NLCS Game 2.” I was going to start with this: "Los Angeles lost two of the first three, including the opener, to Milwaukee in the 2018 NLCS, and that turned out well."
The follow-up was going to be about how the Dodgers have been better against right-hand starters generally in recent seasons, and that a southpaw like Max Fried giving them fits in Game 1 was not particularly surprising, and how L.A. would be ready to bust out against a right-hander today, even though said right-hander is the surging Ian Anderson. No matter that Anderson has allowed no runs on five hits, three walks and 17 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings thus far in the postseason after pitching to a 1.95 ERA, 2.54 WHIP, 1.082 WHIP in six regular season starts.
I was going to pivot to reasons for concerns thereafter, beginning with the notion that Kershaw's October performances have historically been more troublesome with each successive series (4.02 in the NLDS, 4.61 in the NLCS and 5.40 in the World Series). I was going to review what I'd detailed earlier about how Kersh had never had a postseason that lasted more than one round without a stinker of a start. And about why I, like Jim, was nervous about him taking the ball today.
Now I don't have to do that.
Now I'll turn my attention to Gonsolin, whose challenge is not just facing the fine Atlanta lineup on short notice, but doing so after not having pitched competitively since September 26, which is about as far from ideal for this kind of assignment as can possibly be. But let's see how he deals with it. My guess is Gonsolin will be off a hair with his command and walk a couple more men than he'd like, but that the club can live with it, as was the case with Walker Buehler last night. The question is, if he's less than pinpoint with the pitch location, does that translate to big hits by the opponent? It may. It may not. I just don't know.
What I do know, however, is that if Gonsolin comes through tonight, it'll be a huge lift to the other 27 men in the clubhouse. Almost immeasurable, in fact. And we'll know then whether the starter's start was enough of an inspiration for his team to even the 2020 NLCS at a game apiece, and move forward from there in Game 3 tomorrow.
We may see Kershaw next later in the NLCS, in the World Series or in 2021. Until then, let's see how the Mr. Gonsolin and the Dodgers respond to the specific challenge before them, which is Game 2.
And remember, glove conquers all.
Howard Cole has been writing about baseball on the internet since Y2K. Follow him on Twitter.
Video courtesy of Spectrum SportsNetLA/Los Angeles Dodgers.
