LOS ANGELES — The White Sox likely will find themselves on the opposite side of history Wednesday night when Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw takes the mound needing three strikeouts to become the 20th pitcher in major-league history to reach 3,000.
“I grew up watching Kershaw since I was baby,” said Sox shortstop Chase Meidroth, 23, who grew up in nearby Torrance, California, and was 7 when Kershaw broke into the big leagues in 2008. “I’m for sure gonna have an on-deck moment where I go, ‘Yeah, this is sick.’ ”
Sox manager Will Venable, a former outfielder who played nine big-league seasons from 2008 to 2016, faced Kershaw 19 times, going 4-for-16 (.250) against the three-time National League Cy Young Award winner and 2014 NL MVP. He was somewhat surprised to learn he only struck out three times against Kershaw.
“Three — there you go,” said Venable, who batted left-handed. “It’s probably because I wasn’t in the lineup most of the time we faced him.”
Venable was briefly a teammate of Kershaw in 2016, when Venable played 12 games for the Dodgers in his final season.
“Just an extremely hard worker, great human being, a guy that deserves all the success he’s had,” Venable said. “He’s a very good pitcher who is still performing well. Just a competitor who presents a lot of problems for hitters on both sides. He’s probably going to be able to spin the ball for the rest of his life.”
Kershaw, 37, isn’t the flamethrower he was when he broke into the majors as a 20-year-old with a fastball averaging 95 mph. Lower-back injuries began to cut into his velocity in 2017, when his four-seamer averaged 92.8 mph. His heater was further diminished by shoulder surgery after the 2023 season and knee and toe surgeries this past offseason. His four-seamer is averaging just 88.9 mph this year.
But he still has two lethal weapons — an 85.6 mph, late-breaking slider and a looping 72 mph curve — and has been one of the Dodgers’ most reliable starters since he came off the injured list in mid-May, boasting a 4-0 record and 3.03 ERA in eight starts in which he has struck out 29 and walked 13 in 38 ⅔ innings.
“Kersh is one of the hardest-working guys in the game still, and he’s been doing it for 18 years,” said Dodgers reliever Michael Kopech, a former Sox pitcher who was put on the 15-day injured list Tuesday with inflammation in his right knee. “The track record speaks for itself, but also how he carries himself as a leader goes a long way in a clubhouse like this.”
That Kershaw is closing in on 3,000 strikeouts is mind-boggling to Kopech, who has 453 strikeouts in six big-league seasons.
“I feel like I’ve played this game for a long time, and the fact that he has more than six times as many strikeouts as I do, it’s hard to fathom,” Kopech said. “It’s really impressive. He’s probably the best ever to be on that mound.”
Brooks is back
Brooks Baldwin was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte on Tuesday to replace injured Luis Robert Jr. (strained left hamstring). The 24-year-old converted infielder made his second big-league start in center field.
“Yeah, it’s been good,” Baldwin said of the 10 games he played in center field at Charlotte. “Just being able to use my speed and not trying to read the ball too much. Just go catch it.”
Baldwin, a 12th-round draft pick by the Sox in 2022, hit .368 with a 1.162 OPS, 11 home runs, five doubles, two triples, 24 RBI and 27 runs in his last 28 games for Charlotte. He hit .211 with three homers, six doubles and 16 RBI in 47 games over his first two stints with the Sox this season.
“I went down [to the minor leagues] trying to work on getting back to what I was doing last year — putting the ball in play when it’s in the zone and not trying to pull the ball too much, not trying to hit for too much power, giving myself a chance to get on base,” he said.