Kershaw Needs To Calm Down

     Kershaw has an interesting season full of off the field issues. For some reason, people are treating Kershaw like he's retiring at the end of this season without any signs he's actually retiring. Because of this. Kershaw seems to getting a little too cocky and writing checks he can't cash. Let's break down his season so far.

"Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw calls out 'bush league' Cardinals for playing home-run video before game"

    This is when people started to take notice. No matter how good Kershaw has been in his career, his career will always be tainted due to his postseason stats. He has not been good in the postseason and everyone knows it. In my opinion, Kershaw could consider himself lucky that all the showed was the home run video. The Cardinals have multiple videos they could have showed from almost any postseason game he has pitched against the Redbirds.

"Kershaw headed to 11th ASG, this time as 'Legend Pick'"

    This added more fuel to the fire when it comes to Kershaw. For those of you that don't know, the legend pick for the all star game is usually reserved MLB legends during their last MLB seasons. For example, in 2023 the Legend Pick's were Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols. People were roasting Kershaw for this because he has displayed no signs that he is retiring. One of the funnier tweets I saw was "Mickey Mouse pick for his Mickey Mouse ring".

"Dodgers pitcher, was asked about pitching against Jacob Misiorowski, a rookie. Kershaw's initial response was, 'I don't even know who I'm pitching against,'. He also described Misiorowski as 'the guy who twisted his ankle on the mound'"

    This was the nail in the coffin for Kershaw. Jacob "Miz" Misiorowski is the new big pitching phenom. In my opinion, Miz is better than Paul Skenes. There's no way Kershaw didn't know who he was. Miz throws a 97mph slider and Kershaw acted like he was a minor league journeyman. Miz had the last laugh getting the win and dishing out 12 strikeouts in only 6 innings pitched.

    In my opinion Kershaw has been hurting his legacy severely. Because of his longevity, people have been starting to overlook his poor playoff performances. You could even make the argument that most people thought he was a big part of their 2024 World Series victory despite not him even being on the playoff roster. Now when people think of Kershaw, they currently think of everything off the field that has happened this season. Will this blow over for Kershaw and remain a first ballot Hall of Famer? Absolutely yes, but people will always remember Kershaw's playoff performances and off the field issues.