VIDEO: Vintage Highlights From Clayton Kershaw's High School Perfect Game Are Incredible
By Will Coleman
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershsaw remains one of the best hurlers in the game, but he was even more dominant in high school. The Dodgers lost to the cheating-accused Houston Astros and Alex Cora's Boston Red Sox in consecutive World Series appearances, so nobody's reputation is more haunted from this than Kershaw's. If Kershaw never ends up winning a World Series because of the sign-stealing fiasco, at least he can say he once struck out every batter in a perfect game.
In high school, Clayton Kershaw threw a perfect game in which he struck out all 15 batters he faced (5-inning mercy rule). Here's some footage from that outing. pic.twitter.com/1TC1lVF9Cc
— Ben Porter (@Ben13Porter) January 20, 2020
In the video, Kershaw perfectly demonstrates how MLB-ready he was out of high school with speed and control of his pitches. Even his catcher remarked about how difficult it is to track down some of his pitches.
While impressive, this loaded stat line came against a team bad enough to get five-inning mercy ruled, so we have to take this with a grain of salt. It's the same breaking, pay-off pitches, however, that Kershaw has made a living off in the MLB.
I will never forget how dominant Kershaw was in game 1 of that 2017 World Series. He had it all going, 11 strikeouts pic.twitter.com/yDERnNmpqB
— ⚾️Dodgers Dude ⚾️ (@MidwestDodger_) January 17, 2020
Kershaw's ability is unquestioned and he has talent around him to make it back to the World Series in 2020, but it all comes down to his focus come the postseason.