Dodgers News: Analyst Breaks Down How Clayton Kershaw Has Evolved His Game to Remain Great
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Since his debut in 2008, Clayton Kershaw has shown that he is one of the greatest pitchers of all time. Now that he is in his 16th year with the Dodgers, Kershaw continues to show that he is just as good as when he came up.
MLB Network analyst and former pitcher, Jake Peavy, broke down why Kershaw has been able to sustain success throughout his illustrious career on MLB Tonight the other night.
Peavy claimed that Kershaw has been able to evolve and add new pitches to his repertoire just as well as anyone has before.
During the segment, Peavy mentioned how Kershaw now uses 20 % more changeups and 50% more sliders than he did when he first got the call up to the major leagues.
He also showed that as his fastball velocity dipped so did his usage of the pitch by about 30%.
During the segment, Peavy also broke down the different eras of Kershaw’s career and what he did to be successful in each era.
For example, as a youngster, Kershaw had an electric fastball and nasty curveball. As he entered his prime, Kershaw added in a slider that was nearly unhittable. now that he is in the back half of his career, Kershaw is now working on a changeup/cutter mix/
The host of MLB Tonight, Matt Vasgersian, mentioned how Kershaw was stubborn to the idea of mixing in new pitches 5 or 6 years ago when he was in his prime.
With the help of Dave Roberts, former pitching coach, Rick Honeycutt and current pitching coach, Mark Prior, Kershaw has been able to trust himself to start throwing different pitches.
“Its really hard to change when you’re the best and have had success,” said Peavy. “Kershaw has gotten out of his stubbornness and has learned how to evolve.”