Around 10 days ago, Clayton Kershaw announced that he will retire after the 2025 season. As a Dodgers fan, I know this day will come. However, I don’t know it will come this way. It’s not so easy to react after hearing the news.
After hearing Kershaw’s announcement, of course, there are a lot of media reports about Kershaw. I watched some videos, which talked about Kershaw’s legendary career. A host mentioned his postseason struggle, but at the same time, he indicated Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson and mentioned their performance in the postseason.
After watching the video, I decided to check on the great baseball reference website to see those 3 great players’ performances in the postseason.
Firstly, let’s take a look at Greg Maddux’s performance in the postseason. The legendary pitcher made 30 starts and 5 relief appearances in the postseason. He tossed 198 innings, posting a 3.27 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. Opponents hit .255 against him in the postseason. In his career, during the regular season, he owned a 3.16 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Opponents’ batting average against Maddux was .250 during the regular season.
In addition, Randy Johnson made 16 starts and 3 relief appearances in the postseason in his career. Johnson threw 121 innings, posting a 3.50 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. In the postseason, he owned a .235 BAA. In Johnson’s career, he posted a 3.29 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP in the regular season. Opponents’ batting average against him was .221.
Finally, let’s look at Clayton Kershaw’s stats thus far. Kershaw already made 32 starts and 7 relief appearances in the postseason. He tossed 194.1 innings, posting a 4.49 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. Opponents hit .229 against him in the playoffs. So far in Kershaw’s career, he owns a 2.54 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP during the regular season. Opponents hit .211 against him.
Looking at these 3 great pitchers’ performances in the playoffs, well, we can see that their performances in the postseason aren’t as good as they are in the regular season. Kershaw has an ERA over 4 in the postseason. However, his WHIP is below 1.20 in the postseason. Moreover, opponents’ batting average against him is below .240 so far in the postseason. Furthermore, his K/BB is the highest among these 3 great pitchers.
It’s always hard to predict a player’s performance in the playoffs. Nevertheless, we all know that unpredictability is a fun thing to watch in the postseason. Great players might have struggles in the postseason. Maddux, Johnson and Kershaw used to make mistakes in the playoffs. Nonetheless, they each used to help their teams win the trophy as well. The Dodgers already clinched a spot in the postseason. Very soon, we shall see Kershaw pitch in the postseason again. He didn’t pitch in the 2024 playoffs because of injuries. This time, it’s going to be his final postseason. Of course, with fastball velocity drop, he’s not the same Kershaw as we previously know. Nevertheless, it will still be very exciting to see him pitch in the postseason whether he will start the game or come out of the bullpen.
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