Since the beginning of the season, we’ve been aware of Clayton Kershaw and his diminished fastball velocity. While he’s never been a guy who needed elite-level velo to be elite, the fact his average pitch speed is down anywhere from 1.5 to 2 MPH. It has produced less than great results.
According to FanGraphs pitch value statistic — which is a counting/cumulative stat — since 2008, no pitcher has had a more valuable fastball than Kershaw. It has accumulated 200 value points in that time. Justin Verlander, who debuted three years prior to Kershaw, is second at 141.