Clayton Kershaw isn’t going anywhere.
Last night, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the veteran left-hander agreed on a one-year contract for the 2023 season.
The terms of the deal are not yet known.
Kershaw went 12-3 with a 2.28 ERA in 22 starts.
But his most notable moment of the year came in Game 2 of the NLDS against the San Diego Padres, when he got Jurickson Profar to swing at a pitch that bounced in the dirt and turned out to be the lowest pitch ever thrown that resulted in a swinging strike.
As a result of such a crazy moment, Kershaw earned the 2022 Pitching Ninja Award.
There have been over 10,000,000 recorded pitches in the pitch tracking era and this one was the lowest swinging strike of all of them. 😮 https://t.co/TTrBJnXlDh
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) November 11, 2022
Kershaw Earns Pitching Ninja Award
While Kershaw struggled with some back issues, he still remained effective.
And he was effective enough in the postseason to completely fool Profar at the plate and get him to swing at a pitch that bounced in the dirt, the lowest one ever recorded as a swinging strike.
The pitch bounced way in front of the plate too, but it ultimately goes to show just how crafty of a pitcher Kershaw is, especially in the veteran stages of his career.
With a pitch like that, he is certainly deserving of the Pitching Ninja Award.
There really isn’t any better way to describe that pitch than ninja-like.
He had Profar out in front and completely and utterly embarrassed him during the at-bat.
Then again, it’s not like Kershaw doesn’t have any experience doing stuff like this.
He is a three-time NL Cy Young Award winner after all.
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