In a slightly different timeline, Clayton Kershaw would be gearing up to face the Atlanta Braves and fend off elimination in Thursday’s NLCS Game 5.
The bedrock of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ current, wildly successful era exited his last start of the season early with an elbow problem and is missing the playoffs for the first time in the Dodgers’ nine-year run as an October fixture.
His presence, so long taken for granted, could have dramatically altered the Dodgers’ now-teetering path. Sliding doors, the beats of a butterfly’s wings, it’s all impossible to untangle.