It's time for Clayton Kershaw to fight off his demons.
For years now, the Dodgers southpaw has been arguably the best pitcher on the planet in the regular season only to fold it up in October. Kershaw won the NL Cy Young and MVP awards for his performance in the 2014 regular season, but he was beaten up mercilessly in the playoffs.
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The left-hander went 0-2 with a 7.82 ERA against the Cardinals in the NLDS last October, and gave up 11 runs in total in that series while being on the hill for the decisive loss in Game 4. In his playoff career, the Los Angeles ace is anything but dominant, pitching to a 1-5 record with a 5.12 ERA in 11 games (eight starts).
There may be reason to believe the Amazin's can defeat the southpaw based on his track record, but his struggles have mostly come against a Cardinals team that has a penchant for winning in October. Kershaw is 0-4, 7.15 in his last four postseason starts, but all of those came against the Cardinals.
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He'll look to turn things around against a Mets team that managed just two runs over its final 43 innings in the regular season. Kershaw also pitches with the confidence that even if he falters, the Dodgers second ace, Zack Greinke, provides a huge security blanket for the team in Game 2.
Kershaw also threw a complete-game, three-hit shutout against the Mets on July 23 at Citi Field. That was prior to New York's resurgence, as it hadn't traded for Yoenis Cespedes yet and stars David Wright and Travis d'Arnaud weren't back from injury. Hell, John Mayberry Jr. was the cleanup hitter that day and he didn't even crack the NLDS roster as a bench player.
The southpaw struck out 11 Mets in that game in July and was on the way to leading the MLB with 301 strikeouts. Though the Mets lineup has improved, Kershaw appears poised to put his postseason struggles behind him by fanning New York hitters left and right.
Kershaw's road to redemption could begin in Game 1.
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