1. Kershaw's postseason struggles are overstated.
The overall numbers are ugly: Kershaw has a career 5.12 ERA in 51 postseason innings spread across eight starts and three relief appearances. You are going to hear about that every single time he steps on a mound this October. It'll be unavoidable.
That said, Kershaw's postseason issues are overstated. He dominated the Cardinals for six innings in Game 1 of the NLDS last year before that wild rally in the seventh. He dominated the Cardinals for six innings again in Game 4 -- while on short rest this time -- before hanging a curveball to Matt Adams. Game 6 of the 2013 NLCS was a disaster (seven runs in four innings), but, leading into that start, Kershaw allowed one earned run in 19 innings that postseason.
Kershaw's postseason numbers are what they are, and fair or not, he'll have to prove he can succeed in October. His previous playoff struggles were more like one-inning flashes of being human sprinkling into many innings of dominance though. The best pitcher on the planet should still be feared in October.
2. Harvey is not really a distraction, just a nuisance.
Harvey has been inescapable the last few weeks. His innings limit has dominated headlines over the last month, and earlier this week, he missed a mandatory team workout for ... reasons that were never made clear to the public. It was initially blamed on traffic but later Harvey said he lost track of time.
Either way, Harvey has been all over the news of late, yet he's not really a distraction. It's more like a minor annoyance. Harvey still takes the ball when told and has pitched extremely well, which is what matters most. If he had shut himself down entirely or failed to show up to a workout while pitching poorly, yeah, it would be a big deal.
But that isn't the case. It would be nice if he stayed out of the headlines entirely, but as far as distractions go, being on an innings limit and missing a workout three days before the NLDS is not the end of the world. If Harvey's recent headlines cause the team to struggle, then that's on everyone, not just him.
3. The Dodgers are a below-average fastball hitting team.
Both teams feature great rotations, though they have different styles. The Kershaw-Greinke combo is more about precision than power. The Mets, on the other hand, boast power arms who live off their fastballs and can throw the heat by hitters in tough spots.
That heat might be too much for the Dodgers to handle. The pitch values at FanGraphs show the Dodgers were below-average against fastballs this year, and, according to PitchFX, Los Angeles batters hit only .255 with a .423 slugging percentage against fastballs this season. The league averages were .269 and .444, respectively.
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