In late September, I watched Clayton Kershaw’s last regular season start at Dodger stadium. He has done so many things at this ballpark and achieved key milestones. While watching Kershaw’s final start at home in the regular season, I began to think about a question.
Clayton Kershaw is certainly one of the best pitchers this generation. His performance at Dodger stadium, without a doubt, has been outstanding. In this century, perhaps, his performance is the best in home games? To solve my doubts, I decided to check on the great Fangraphs website.
Clayton Kershaw made 228 starts at Dodger stadium in his career, posting a 2.26 ERA over 1479.2 innings. Among pitchers who threw at least 1000 innings in home games from 2001 to 2025, Kershaw is the only pitcher with an ERA below 3. There’s no doubt that he has pitched outstandingly at this ballpark.
Moreover, Adam Wainwright pitched for the Cardinals from 2005 to 2023. He threw 1441.1 innings in home games with an ERA of 3.00. Wainwright finished his career with 200 wins and a 3.53 ERA.
Furthermore, Jered Weaver pitched in the majors from 2006 to 2017. He used to pitch for the Angels and the Padres. In his career, he owned a 3.00 ERA over 1030.1 innings in home games. And Chris Sale, who won the 2024 NL Cy Young award, has a 3.02 ERA in home games thus far in his career. He has tossed 1021.2 innings in home games.
In addition, let’s take a look at the number of strikeouts. Justin Verlander, who’s a 3-time Cy Young award winner, has struck out 1796 batters in home games so far in his career. He has tossed 1700+ innings in home games. At the same time, we can’t ignore another 3-time Cy Young award winner, Max Scherzer. He has thrown 1700 strikeouts in home games so far in his career. Clayton Kershaw has 1651 strikeouts at Dodger stadium during the regular season in his career. Greinke had 1601 strikeouts in home games in his great career.
Finally, let’s look at WHIP. Kershaw’s WHIP at Dodger stadium is only 0.99 in his career. Chris Sale’s WHIP is 1.03 in home games so far in his career. Roy Halladay pitched in the majors from 1998 to 2013. From 2001 to 2013, he threw 1219 innings in home games with a 1.06 WHIP. Max Scherzer now has a 1.07 WHIP in home games so far in his career and Verlander’s WHIP in home games in 1.10.
Looking at the stats this century, so far, there’s little doubt that Clayton Kershaw’s performance in home games is just outstanding. He certainly let the opponents know that it’s hard to beat him at Dodger stadium. Meanwhile, as we can see, there are several names that baseball fans are familiar with. Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer are two great pitchers this generation as well. They surely pitched well in home games. Moreover, Chris Sale, who won the Cy Young award last season, is a tough opponent to face when he pitches in home games.
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