How to hit Clayton Kershaw?

[haiuguyz]

Anyone have any idea? His delivery is ridiculously hard to time, and he either throws 97 MPH and a very slow 12-6 curve. But since he delivery is so hard to time, you don't have time to figure out if it's a curve or FB. I'm not a bad hitter against any other SP, but I literally strike out AT LEAST 20 times against Kershaw. Is it any better if you lower pitch speed to 0? I'm sure I'm not the only one who has trouble with this specific SP. I'm getting very frustrated, and I'm in year 2 of my franchise and can't get past game 2 (I don't want to simulate it, but I will not accept striking out 20 times against Kershaw in only the second game of the season).

[Gabriel]

Does he have the same delivery as Arietta (I think that's his name)? It's like the game kind of glitches just as he's delivering the ball, where his arm comes up and over like normal, but then his hand sharply dives right just as he's delivering and it's impossible to tell what the hell he's throwing.

If so, I pretty much just gave up on trying to hit him. I let a lot of pitches go, and used contact swing much more than usual, just so I would have a few baserunners. Luckily, I hit a three-run homer with Adam Lind, and that was enough to hold onto for the win. But damn man, that was tough.

[Bobhead]

Throw the ball at his head when he's at the plate.

[dbly32]

Don't you dare.

[haiuguyz]

Quote: Originally Posted by Gabriel

Does he have the same delivery as Arietta (I think that's his name)? It's like the game kind of glitches just as he's delivering the ball, where his arm comes up and over like normal, but then his hand sharply dives right just as he's delivering and it's impossible to tell what the hell he's throwing. If so, I pretty much just gave up on trying to hit him. I let a lot of pitches go, and used contact swing much more than usual, just so I would have a few baserunners. Luckily, I hit a three-run homer with Adam Lind, and that was enough to hold onto for the win. But damn man, that was tough.

I dunno, I'll have to see. I actually traded for Arrieta as soon as I started my franchise.

[padsfan92]

I have faced Kershaw quite a few times in my Padres franchise and the best way to attack him is to be very patient at the plate. He's certainly not known for his pinpoint control. I was able to force him to throw 100 pitches in 5 innings and score 5 runs on him using this strategy. So look for fastballs up in the zone on counts in your hitters favor and try to tattoo the ball

[caseyj622]

The only way to hit a guy like that is to sit on his fastball all day and react to the breaking ball. He can be wild sometimes, so be patient and take a lot of pitches. Just sit on that 97 and hope you get somethin over the middle of the plate. You could also sit on the curve and hope for a hanger, but with a guy like that, most of his breaking balls will be low. You may only get 1 hanger all game if you are lucky. Especially if his confidence is high.

[GetYoHairDid]

Go to the practice mode and have him pitch to you. Once in-game, you can select which types of pitches he will throw. Enable one or two pitches and start learning how to hit them. Do that for all the pitches and you'll be able to read them eventually.