Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth
As for Koufax, his three best WARs were 10.7 10.3 and 8.1. Kershaw's best is 7.8. Numbers don't tell the whole story, and certainly not one number, but that's a pretty good barometer of relative dominance. Koufax at his peak was even better.
|
To be fair, Koufax was pitching in a four-man rotation in an era when starters were expected to finish most games, so he pitched well over 300 innings in the years when he wasn't hurt. Kershaw is pitching in a five-man rotation in an era that uses relievers much more extensively, so he has pitched no more than about 230 innings in any year. Kershaw has been at least as dominant as Koufax when he has pitched (ERA+ of 194 and 199 in 2013 and 2014, vs. ERA+ of 190 and 186 in Koufax's two best years), but he hasn't been able to pitch as many innings because of the time in which he's playing, so his WARs are proportionally lower.