The front office no doubt told Roberts what Kershaw's pitch limit today was before the game and Roberts followed those instructions (as he's no doubt done every other time he's pulled a pitcher "early").

But yes, I do agree that Kershaw signed off on it too.

They pulled him early because of the short spring training with the lockout, and the fact he missed the last two months of the regular season with a bad arm. Nobody is going deep into games for a little while until teams feel comfortable. Sucks, but I get it.

Kershaw and the catcher both agree with the decision. Sounds like he was getting tired. Man, who cares? You gotta try for a perfect game.

Kershaw was only 50/50 on even coming back this year. That's why LAD didn't offer him the QO.

He told them he wanted to maybe pitch for them, maybe pitch for the Rangers or maybe just not pitch. So they didn't give him the QO in case he decided to sign with the Rangers.

He decided to come back. But it wasn't for money or glory - it was just to pitch in the post-season again.

It doesn't surprise me even a little that he was like 'eh, **** it. I'm just here for October...' and shut it down.

He ain't Max Scherzer. He's a really chill guy so I can absolutely see him bowing out.

To me, that would be exactly why I go back in for the 8th. How many guys Have thrown a perfect game?

Either way, if he was cool with it, who am I to complain.

How did the relievers do?

I completely believe that he sees the world that way. But I think it's dumb.

The lockout and shortened spring training have resulted in starting pitchers getting pulled real early this season, leaguewide. Carlos Rodon of the Giants, Michael Lorenzen of the Angels, and Jesus Luzardo of the Marlins all come to mind. I'm surprised they let Kershaw go as deep as they did, especially since it's Dave Roberts, famous for pulling Rich Hill out during no-hitters.

23, I believe.

But one of 'em is Phillip Humber.

Again, it's just not how Kershaw is wired. Honestly it's part of why I think he's had the post-season problems he's had (and yes, whiney Dodger fans that refuse to acknowledge that he's had some REALLY rough post-seasons, he has struggled in the post-season).

Kershaw is an unbelievable pitcher and first ballot HoFer, but I've never thought of him as a bulldog really. That's just not the kind of thing that's ever seemed to motivate him.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">More Kershaw: &quot;I knew going in my pitch count wasn&#39;t going to be 100 let alone 90. It&#39;s a hard thing to do, coming out of a game like that, but like I said, we&#39;re here to win, and this is the right choice.&quot;</p>&mdash; Jon Weisman (@jonweisman) <a href="https://twitter.com/jonweisman/status/1514332286631567362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

He was on a pitch count and he wasn't going to go against management on this one given the club's championship aspirations.

ended up giving up a single hit and a walk

Meanwhile Scherzer would've said "**** your pitch count - I'll still be ready in October" and thrown his manager into a wood chipper if he tried to take the ball.

Just different dudes.

Plus, he's already got a no hitter. Not quite as impressive as a perfecto, but it's basically the pitcher's version of a straight flush. Still pretty rare and cool. I'm thinking he doesn't really GAF about personal accolades at this point. Plus, I actually like Kershaw but does anyone really need to see more highlight shit about the Dodgers?

Reminds me of something that happened in the NHL a couple of weeks ago. As a sport with a lot of contact, injuries are pretty common in hockey. It's seen as a major accomplishment just for guys to stay healthy, so the "Iron Man Streak" of consecutive games played is a pretty notable stat.

Keith Yandle had played 989 games in a row. His career was definitely on the decline, but he was on a team that was way out of a playoff spot. Rather than let the guy become the first player to hit 1,000 consecutive games in a row in NHL history, his coach (Mike Yeo) decided to make him a healthy scratch so that some young guys could get some playing time.

I mean, I get it. It was probably technically the best move for the team's long term. But on the other hand, these are the little things that fans love to root for. It's kind of bullshit not to let the guy play 11 more games before he sat him down.