Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is one of six pitchers in the history of Major League Baseball to win at least three Cy Young awards in a span of four seasons, as Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux and Jim Palmer are the others.
This is a unique and distinguished achievement, and Kershaw’s overall production arguably matches that of the other five members in his era. For this article, the analytical case can be made that his individual stretch where he won three Cy Youngs in four years ranks third amongst the previously stated pitchers. Statistically speaking, Kershaw’s stretch from 2011 to 2014 that culminated in three Cy Young awards was highly impressive. Relative to the other pitchers mentioned above, Kershaw’s cumulative numbers in that stretch qualifies, arguably, as third best amongst those have had the similar levels of production:
Although Clayton Kershaw is one the most dominant pitchers of his era, he ranks third statistically amongst pitchers that have won at least three Cy Youngs in a four-year span. Although Kershaw’s metrics ranks third, relative to the other pitchers that have won at least three Cy Youngs in four seasons, he was the most efficient, as he faced the least amount of batters and pitched the fewest innings:
In accordance with the figure above, Kershaw pitched 895.1 innings and faced 3,470 batters. He also started the fourth most games, ahead of Greg Maddux and Pedro Martinez. Clayton Kershaw’s stretch of three Cy Youngs from 2011 to 2014 was one of the most efficient stretches of statistical production in Major League history and, based on statistics, ranks third relative to those have had similar periods of dominant pitching.
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