2017 MLB Player Rankings for SP: Clayton Kershaw still the best pitcher in baseball – CBSSports.com

Although a back issue sidelined him for more than two months last season,
Los Angeles Dodgers
ace
Clayton Kershaw
remains the game’s best starting pitcher. He’s the best pitcher of his generation and is already an all-time great. Kershaw has built a Hall of Fame foundation and now just needs the longevity.

Last season Kershaw fell 13 innings short of qualifying for the ERA title. He still posted new career bests in ERA (1.69), WHIP (0.73), walk rate (0.7 BB/9), and K/BB ratio (15.64). Kershaw struck out 172 and walked 11. 11! And one of the 11 was intentional too. Since the start of the 2011 season, Kershaw has thrown 1,277 innings with a 2.06 ERA. The next lowest ERA by a pitcher with at least 500 innings during that time is 2.73 by
Johnny Cueto
. Yeah.

And for all the hate Kershaw gets for his postseason failures, the Dodgers won five postseason games last year, and Kershaw pitched in four of them. He is hardly the biggest reason they are the first team in history to go to the postseason four straight years and not make the World Series.

The question isn’t whether Kershaw is the best pitcher in baseball at the moment. The question is whether he will go down as one of the 10 best pitchers of all-time.