The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees boasted two staff aces on Wednesday at Dodgers Stadium: Clayton Kershaw and Hiroki Kuroda.
Kershaw, 25, leads the league in earned runs allowed (10-6, 1.87 ERA) and in fewest baserunners allowed (0.861) this season, which is his sixth with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kuroda, who began his career with the Dodgers in 2008, has had an impressive season (10-6, 2.38 ERA) as well. When the two faced off in the interleague match, the Yankees came out with the victory after Dodgers reliever Ronaldo Belisario surrendered two runs after replacing Kershaw following eight innings of work.
“It was tough,” Kershaw told The Los Angeles Times. “I think I put [Dodgers manager] Donnie [Mattingly] in a tough spot.”
Mattingly pulled Kershaw after the lefty threw 97 total pitches (63% in the strike zone) against the Yankees. Kuroda, however, threw 103 total pitches (49% in strike zone) before he was pulled in the seventh inning. In this incredible pitching duel, which was entirely scoreless until the final inning, both pitchers allowed just five hits each.
While the Yankees (56-51) may have gone home with the win over the Dodgers (57-49) in the game, fans across the nation were left with quite the show from the staff aces.
Clayton Kershaw: Pitch Type and Velocity
On Wednesday, Kershaw dominated with his fastball, which was clocked between 93 – 95 MPH vs. the Yankees, for 63% of his pitches. Three of his five hits allowed, however, came off of the pitch. The spin on his 4-seam fastball, which has been 11% above the MLB average this season, has allowed batters to hit only .270 against the pitch this season.
The Dodgers southpaw also used his 85 – 88 MPH slider on 21% of pitches vs. the Yankees (almost identical to his season average: 23%) and his 73 – 75 MPH curveball on 12% of his total pitches. Both pitches allowed a total of one hit each. Though Kershaw usually throws a change-up on 3% of total pitches, he neglected to throw one on Wednesday.
This season, Kershaw’s curveball has been his most effective pitch, causing batters to swing and miss on 37% of all attempts (MLB average: 26%). While he may be somewhat reluctant to use the pitch, batters are hitting only .142 against his curveball when in play in 2013.
While the velocity on both his fastball and his curveball were nearly identical to his season averages, his slider (85 – 88 MPH in the game) was roughly 1.9 MPH faster than it was in his last game (83 – 87 MPH season average).
Hiroki Kuroda: Pitch Type and Release Point
To little surprise, Kuroda heavily relied on his sinker (44% of total pitches) vs. the Dodgers on Wednesday. He has thrown the pitch on 40% of all pitches in 2013, with an average velocity between 89 – 93 MPH, which was consistent in his most recent match. Kuroda gave up two hits on his sinker vs. the Dodgers.
The Yankees star also used his 82 – 86 MPH slider on 26% of all pitches vs. the Dodgers. His slider has been his most effective pitch this season, as batters are hitting only .267 against the pitch when in play this season. His slider allowed only one hit on Wednesday.
His 85 – 88 MPH splitter allowed two hits vs. the Dodgers, but has been deceptive all season long causing batters to swing and miss on 36% of total pitches thrown (MLB average: 14%) in 2013.
Kuroda also threw seven fastballs and two curveballs on Wednesday. The Japanese righty often avoids throwing his fastball, however, because its spin is 20% less than the MLB average and batters are hitting .275 against the pitch when in play this season.
While it hardly made a difference, it is indeed worth noting that Kuroda’s release point for his curveball was three inches lower than usual, and his release points overall were also 2.3” lower than his typical outing in 2013.
What was the difference?
This season, Kershaw has averaged 8.6 strikeouts per nine innings. Kershaw, who is one of MLB’s overall strikeout leaders with 161 on the season in 2013, fanned only five Yankees on Wednesday.
Kuroda, however, struck out eight Dodgers (including seven swinging K’s) and was able to make the Dodgers look foolish. Perhaps the key difference was how he started off against each batter. In the first pitches that he threw to each batter (25 total) on Wednesday, he threw a strike 72% of the time.
For the Dodgers, Kershaw started off a little slower for each batter: throwing a strike on the first pitch only 60% of the time.
Baseball fans certainly got a treat when the Dodgers and Yankees faced off Wednesday evening. Kuroda and Kershaw have been two of baseball’s biggest pitching stars in 2013, and their performances when they faced off continued to prove their MLB successes.
NOTE: All statistics accurate as of 7/31/13
By Bryan Kalbrosky, AriBall.com
