No pitcher has more wins against the Colorado Rockies than Clayton Kershaw — and that’s how the longtime Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander will retire, almost lappping the rest of the field in beating up on the boys in purple.
Kershaw, 37, is retiring at season’s end, according to an announcement from the Dodgers on Thursday. The future Hall of Famer will make his final regular-season start at Dodger Stadium on Friday.
Kershaw is one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. He is the winner of the 2014 NL MVP, an 11-time All-Star, a three-time Cy Young Award winner and a two-time World Series champion. He owns a career 2.54 ERA, and his 154 ERA+ ranks tied for best in modern MLB history with Pedro Martinez among starters.
In the postseason, Kershaw has struggled at times but straightened everything out for the Dodgers’ 2020 World Series run. And his team would go on to win another title in 2024 with him on the roster, but injured for the playoffs.
Kershaw hasn’t had to worry about meeting the Rockies in the playoffs since they’re rarely there. He pitched two critical winning performances late in the 2018 season for the Dodgers against the Rockies. They were two of his record 52 starts against Colorado. His 29 wins are by far the most by an opposing pitcher against the Rockies, with the next being Madison Bumgarner at 19, and only fellow former stars Adam Wainwright and Randy Johnson have better career rate stats against the Rockies than Kershaw.
Kershaw’s finest moment may have come against the Rockies, pitching a no-hitter in 2014 when he struck out a career-high 15 Colorado batters in an 8-0 Dodgers win. According to his 102 GameScore that evening, it’s the best start of his legendary career.
Since moving to LA in 1958, the Dodgers have had just 13 losing seasons; the Rockies started playing baseball 35 years later in 1993 and have had 24 losing seasons, including this year. The Dodgers haven’t won fewer than 80 games since 2005. Kershaw was called up in 2008 and defined this era of insane success for Los Angeles.
