This is really no surprise. After all, if you throw a no-hitter you are probably going to be honored by the league with Player of the Week honors.
In honor of his incredible feat and subsequent honor as the player of the week, I made several Clayton Kersahw fantasy cards featuring photos taken by
Jon SooHoo during his no-hit game.
Via a
Dodger press release:
Starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who threw
his first career no-hitter on Wednesday, June 18, has been named
National League Player of the Week for the period ending June 22. The
announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
Kershaw was unhittable in his only start of the week, leading the
Dodgers to an 8-0 victory and completing a three-game sweep of the
Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium. Facing the best-hitting team in the
Majors, the three-time N.L. All-Star needed just 107 pitches (79
strikes) in 9.0 innings of work to earn his first career no-hitter and
to improve to 7-2 on the season. Kershaw faced just one batter over the
minimum in the outing and did not issue a walk, while fanning 15 Rockies
hitters. The only batter to reach base did so by way of an error to
lead off the seventh inning. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, his
15 strikeouts were the most in Major League history by a pitcher that
did not allow a runner to reach base via hit, walk or hit-by-pitch. The
previous mark of 14 strikeouts in such a performance was shared by Nap
Rucker (September 5, 1908), Sandy Koufax (September 9, 1965) and Matt
Cain (June 13, 2012). In addition, the 15 strikeouts were tied for
third-most overall in a no-hitter, and tied for the most by a
left-hander, matching Hall of Famer Warren Spahn (15 on September 16,
1960). Kershaw's performance was the 22nd no-hitter in Dodger franchise
history, which is the most by any Major League club. It came just 24
days after his teammate Josh Beckett threw his first career no-hitter
(May 25 vs. PHI), marking the shortest span between no-hitters by a team
since Cincinnati's Johnny Vander Meer did it in consecutive starts on
June 11 and 15, 1938 (Elias Sports Bureau). With the no-hitter, Kershaw
saw his ERA dip to 2.52 (18 ER/64.1 IF) for the season. This is his
fourth career Player of the Week honor, having previously won April 1-7,
2013; May 14-20, 2012; and June 20-26, 2011.
Other noteworthy performances last week included Kershaw's Dodger
teammate Hyun-Jin Ryu (2-0, 1.50 ERA, 8 SO, 12.0 IP); Colorado's Corey
Dickerson (.500, 11 H, 2 HR, 6 RBI, .955 SLG, .522 OBP); Atlanta's
Freddie Freeman (.394, 13 H, 4 2B, HR, .667 SLG, .412 OBP);
Philadelphia's Ryan Howard (.345, 6 R, 10 H, 3 HR, 9 RBI, .690 SLG, .441
OBP); Milwaukee's Aramis Ramirez (.500, 9 R, 14 H, 4 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI,
.964 SLG, .517 OBP); David Wright (.444, 2 HR, 6 RBI, .815 SLG, .448
OBP) and Zack Wheeler (1-0, 0.00 ERA, CG, SHO, 8 SO, 9.0 IP) of the New
York Mets; and Washington's Rafael Soriano (0-0, 1.50 ERA, 4 SV, 6 SO,
5.0 IP).
In recognition of his National League Player of the Week Award, Clayton
Kershaw will be awarded a watch, courtesy of Game Time, the leader in
licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.
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