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Today, I’ll be projecting the expected pitches, strikes and strikeouts for Clayton Kershaw tonight against the Oakland As. Kershaw is one of three pitchers (Luis Severino, Mike Clevinger) in the “Awesemo.com Presents: $1,000,000 Perfect Line Bonus + $7,500GTD – Inside Pitch ($2,000 to 1st!)”.
Your PlayLine predictions are scored according to the chart below. It’s really simple. The closer your PlayLine is to the athlete’s actual performance, the more points you get. The more points you get, the better your chances of winning!
You will receive PlayLine points each time the featured athlete registers a stat that you predicted will occur. Once the athlete’s actual stat total in a particular category goes over your prediction, you will no longer receive additional per stat PlayLine points.
The matchup for Kershaw is mostly good against the Athletics, as they have a 24.6% K-rate and an 85 wRC+ against lefties in their home stadium in 2018. Kershaw has returned to form as of late, , going at least 6 innings with 5 strikeouts in each of his last 5 starts, and this could be another one where get reaches his averages at the very least.
Kershaw’s averages above are a little misleading, as he’s been flirting with 100 pitches since early July after the Dodgers were very careful with him once he returned from the DL in late June. The leash on Kershaw should be 100+ pitches assuming he avoids an early exit and in a pitcher-friendly park, I would expect him to have a solid outing.
He shouldn’t have trouble throwing strikes, and Kershaw’s Swinging-Strike rate is steadily increasing since mid-season, and while we can’t expect a “Vintage Kershaw” outing, I think this matchup is very good for him, as he’s striking out over 25% of righties in 2018 despite the slow start. My projection for him right now is 106 pitches, 72 strikes, and 6 strikeouts, as I think the pitches and strikes will be much higher than his averages, which hopefully differentiates you from the field.
