Was Clayton Kershaw Baseball’s Last Best Chance at Perfection?
Perfection. A phantom goal that none of us can truly achieve. We all make mistakes, it’s what makes us human. Uniquely, sports give us the chance to be perfect — even if only for a moment. Clayton Kershaw was knocking on the door of a perfect game, when he was pulled. Kershaw had seen 21 Minnesota batters, retired all 21 including 13 strikeouts. Had Kershaw finished the deal it would have been just the 24th time a pitcher threw a perfect game out of the over 430,000 starts in MLB history, and the first since Felix Hernandez in 2012.
Due to a short spring training players haven’t been able to build the reps they normally do which led to Kershaw being relieved after throwing only 80 pitches. In theory, it makes sense in the bigger picture of trying to win a championship. Teams have to focus on players health and maintaining them through the gauntlet of a 162-game season. However, in a game like baseball with its tradition, unwritten rules, and storied history; seeing a pitcher pulled mid-perfect game is borderline sacrilegious. Mr. October would certainly agree, taking to twitter to share his distain.
Reggie Jackson’s feelings were shared among baseball fans across the globe, let him chase perfection — and it leaves us asking questions. If not Kershaw, then who? If one of baseball’s best arms can’t muster up the strength the chase this can anyone? Have we seen the last perfect game? As fans, we’re searching for answers.
Brief History of Perfection
It’s no secret that pitchers don’t put the same mileage on their arms that they used to, but the decline of complete games by starting pitchers over the course of baseball history is astonishing. In fact, no active players land on the top 1000 list of career complete games. Every player on that list has tallied at least 43 career complete games while the current active leader, Adam Wainwright, has only 27. With analytics optimizing matchups to be more advantageous to hitters paired with managers countering with middle relief specialists, it is certainly possible we have seen the last perfect game. This season marks ten years without a perfect game which is the second longest streak since 1950.
Who’s Next?
Do I think we’ve seen the last perfect game? No. All it takes is one guy to have his best stuff for a night, but that’s easier said than done. I do think that they are going to continue to be fewer and farther between. So, who can realistically be the next name to achieve sport’s rarest feat? The likes of Scherzer, Verlander, and Kershaw are all good answers, but past their peak years it seems unlikely if they haven’t been able to do it yet. Jacob deGrom is a strong bet, but the 2-time Cy Young winner has just two complete game shutouts in seven years and with his injury history the Mets will be sure to carefully manage his innings forever with how much he’s getting payed (also when’s the last time anything good happened to the Mets?).
Evidently, predicting who will throw a perfect game isn’t an easy gig. A perfect game is hardly reserved for baseball royalty either. Out of the 22 eligible players who have thrown perfect games only 8 are in the hall of fame. That’s what’s so great about this sport — any given night someone could etch their name into baseball lore. Take Philip Humber for example: 16–25 all time record with a WAR of just 0.9. Humber’s seven year career ended just one season after he was perfect. Far from a perfect career but a member of the perfect game club nonetheless. Humber is a great instance of ordinary players achieving extraordinary achievements, and his performance gives me hope that another perfect game being thrown is not a matter of if but when. Although, the better question might be who.
