Clayton Kershaw struck out 13 across seven perfect innings in the Dodgers' 7-0 victory against the Twins last Wednesday.
The decision by manager Dave Roberts to pull Kershaw got a lot of discussion. While injuries have been a problem for Kershaw the last few years, he had thrown only 80 pitches in his seven innings and obviously didn't have any stressful situations.
Controversial decision aside, Kershaw was masterful, inducing a whopping 20 swinging strikes among his 80 pitches, including 17 on 27 swings at his slider.
Kershaw faced the Braves one time last season, recording nine strikeouts over six innings in a 6-4 road loss on June 5 and the projected Braves lineup has four batters with a strikeout rate above 21 percent, including Adam Duvall (32.4 percent strikeout rate) and Austin Riley (25.6 percent strikeout rate). Duvall has six strikeouts in nine career at-bats against Kershaw.
Overall, Atlanta's nine hitters have been struck out in 19.6 percent of their plate appearances and Kershaw will likely throw more than 80 pitches tonight.
MLB Prop Pick: Clayton Kershaw Over 6.5 strikeouts
The decision by manager Dave Roberts to pull Kershaw got a lot of discussion. While injuries have been a problem for Kershaw the last few years, he had thrown only 80 pitches in his seven innings and obviously didn't have any stressful situations.
Controversial decision aside, Kershaw was masterful, inducing a whopping 20 swinging strikes among his 80 pitches, including 17 on 27 swings at his slider.
Kershaw faced the Braves one time last season, recording nine strikeouts over six innings in a 6-4 road loss on June 5 and the projected Braves lineup has four batters with a strikeout rate above 21 percent, including Adam Duvall (32.4 percent strikeout rate) and Austin Riley (25.6 percent strikeout rate). Duvall has six strikeouts in nine career at-bats against Kershaw.
Overall, Atlanta's nine hitters have been struck out in 19.6 percent of their plate appearances and Kershaw will likely throw more than 80 pitches tonight.
MLB Prop Pick: Clayton Kershaw Over 6.5 strikeouts
