Washington Nationals: 5 to watch at Dodger Stadium

Clayton Kershaw

Speaking of Kershaw, he was able to record his 2,000th career strikeout against the Brewers in his last start. In that game, he went seven innings, gave up one solo home run on two hits, and struck out a season high 14 in a no-decision.

Now that he’s fully healthy, the three-time Cy Young Award winner is looking like the favorite to win the award for the fourth time in 2017. Right now, he leads the NL in wins, innings pitched, and ERA, and trails only Max Scherzer in strikeouts (92).

Kershaw has a strong fastball, but the one pitch to look out for is his breaking ball. According to Brooks Baseball, teams are hitting .103 against that pitch with two home runs (six hits overall).

Throughout his entire career, Kershaw has dominated the Washington Nationals. The 29-year-old is 10-2 with a 2.02 ERA in 14 career games (13 starts) against the Nats and hasn’t lost to them since 2010. This does not include his win in Game 1 of the NLDS and a save in Game 5 last year.

The player to watch on the Nats in this one has to be Bryce Harper. Harper is only 1-for-15 with ten K’s in his career against the left-hander, but Harper is also the last Washington Nationals player to hit a home run against Kershaw (2014). It’s always fun to watch these two superstars battle against each other.

With Kershaw having given up four home runs in his last two games, maybe the time is right for the Nats to end that slide on Wednesday. Otherwise, he could be in for another dominant outing against a formidable opposition.