Debate: Cain or Kershaw?

The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants have one of the longest standing rivalries in all of baseball. However, this year is one of the first times in a long time that they have been playing meaningful games against one another with NL West division championship implications. One of those important games will be going down tonight, as the Dodgers will be taking on the Giants at AT&T Park.

Clayton Kershaw is clearly the ace of the Dodgers’ staff, and Matt Cain is the ace among aces for the Giants. Both of these young guns project to have very bright futures. But which ace would you want to have on your team for the remainder of their careers?

Argument for Cain (SF):

1. Durability

-No matter the results, you can be assured that Cain will have 30+ starts and 200+ IP in a season. He is a steady force for one of, if not the best, rotations in baseball.

2. Control Pitcher

-For the most part, Cain pitches to contact, and he lives on the corners of the plate. Without a high 90s fastball in his repertoire, he depends on pinpoint accuracy to dominate hitters.

3. Movement

-His fastball velocity has been trending down over the past few years, but his whiff rate is going up. This is due to the movement on his fastball and his highly effective off-speed pitches.

Argument for Kershaw (LAD):

1. In the Groove-

For most Major League pitchers, there is a sizeable learning curve. He seems to have skipped right over that. At only 24 years of age, Kershaw has found his groove as one of the best pitchers in the game.

2. Strikeout Machine

-Kershaw, who is leading now, could lead the NL in strikeouts for the second straight year. This is his third straight 200+ strikeouts season in a row.

3. ERA Force

-Aside from his rookie campaign at the age of 20, Kershaw’s ERA has not finished over 3.00 in any year since. His career ERA is just 2.86. What more could the Dodgers ask for from this kid?

My Choice: Kershaw

Why?

1. Trending

- The more that I looked at the two of them, the more I realized that this is not even a close comparison. Kershaw continues to trend upwards and towards being the best pitcher in baseball while Cain is trending neutral and towards just being the best pitcher on his team (which is still quite the accomplishment).

2. Consistency

- As great as Cain has looked this season, he has not been as solid over his entire career. Aside from his perfect game (which was absolutely outstanding), Cain has had an above-average but not outstanding career. Kershaw’s career has yet to have a major lull, and his consistency over the past three years especially has been quite impressive.

3. Age

-Kershaw is three years younger than Cain. As I mentioned before, it has taken Kershaw much less time to find his groove in the majors, and he has many more years to continue to dominate.

Be sure to tweet to @MLBFanCave and @KyleOKC with your pick of either Cain or Kershaw and why using the hashtag #CaveDebate.