Dodgers OK sans Kershaw

AS HE has been throughout his career, Clayton Kershaw has been everything you would want in an ace the past two years. It is not just that he has a 1.86 ERA over 2016-17, but when he took the mound the Dodgers were 36-6. But Kershaw will have missed significant time to back injuries in 2016-17. He made just 21 starts last year and has the same this season. But in a sign of the rising overall brilliance of the Dodgers — the length of their roster and a group toughness that may have been missing in previous years — they actually have played better when Kershaw has been sidelined. In particular last year, when the Dodgers did not have quite the perceived rotation depth that they do now, they were 41-36 and second in the NL West, eight games back of the Giants when Kershaw was disabled. Now, it helped that San Francisco crashed. But the Dodgers were 38-24 while Kershaw’s problematic back healed, and he returned to a team in first place, five up on San Francisco. Los Angeles played .613 ball while Kershaw was on the DL and .530 when he was not last year. This season the Dodgers were rampaging with Kershaw, going 68-31 and leading the NL West by 10 ¹/2 games. But they are a staggering 11-1 since he went on the DL with another back ailment and now lead the NL West by 15 ¹ /2 games. So if you are keeping score at home, the Dodgers are a terrific 121-78 the past two years when Kershaw has been healthy. A .608 winning percentage. And they are 49-25 with Kershaw on the DL. A .662 winning percentage.