Subscribe
Follow Us
Dave Roberts upset a lot of baseball fans on Wednesday with his decision to pull Clayton Kershaw prior to the 8th inning of a perfect game. Managers typically want to limit pitchers early in the season, but Kershaw is a seasoned veteran who has never thrown a perfect game before. He also had thrown under 90 pitches at the time of his removal from the game against the Twins.
However, there were some who supported Roberts' decision. Let's take a look at how the MLB world reacted to Dave Roberts pulling Clayton Kershaw in the midst of perfection.
MLB insider Jeff Passan certainly stands on the side of leaving Kershaw in the game.
If it's a no-hitter, whatever. Yank him. Clayton Kershaw has thrown one.
But there have been more than 220,000 games in MLB history. There have been 23 perfect games.
Everything — especially a pitch count of 80 — is lining up to at least let Kershaw try. You cannot pull him.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 13, 2022
Ouch. 23 perfect games in the history of baseball and Clayton Kershaw gets pulled? Yes, that is difficult to defend regardless of the circumstances. Here are a few more reactions that echo Jeff Passan's sentiment.
We’ve had three pitchers pulled with a no-hitter through 6+ innings through one week of baseball.
Clayton Kershaw just now pulled after 7 perfect innings and 80 pitches.
I know it was a short spring training, but man, that's a bad look for baseball.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) April 13, 2022
Clayton Kershaw just got pulled from a perfect game, and he’s not even at 90 pitches…
— Fuzzy (@fuzzyfromyt) April 13, 2022
But there were arguments from the other side as well. Clayton Kershaw is coming off of an injury-plagued season and MLB had a shortened Spring Training.
There was barely a spring training. Nobody's fully built up. Starters were barely ready to start a real season. This isn't some new-age thing or whatever strawman you want to rail against. It sucks.
— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) April 13, 2022
Clayton Kershaw was forced to sit out the postseason because of an elbow injury last fall, a few months after missing a chunk of the season for the same reason, but sure, have him keep pitching even though his arm isn’t in shape yet cuz people who weren’t even watching want it.
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) April 13, 2022
Kershaw decision triggers memories of David Cone’s 1st start after missing 4 months to remove an aneurysm in Sept. 1996. He had a no-hitter through 7 innings when #Yankees manager Joe Torre pulled him after 85 pitches. Cone said after the game that he agreed with the move (more)
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) April 13, 2022
There is a logical side and there is the history-making side of the argument.
The Dodgers have their sights set on winning the World Series so risking injury to one of the most crucial players may not be worth it in April. On the other hand, Clayton Kershaw's legacy would only become even more impressive with a perfect game attached to his name.
Did Dave Roberts make the correct decision? Probably. Will he be grilled by most baseball fans for making the controversial decision? Absolutely.
Clayton Kershaw finished the game with 13 strikeouts over 7 innings in what was a truly memorable outing for the future Hall-of-Famer.
