Clayton Kershaw was one of if not the most dominant and consistent pitcher during the 2013-2016 season, posting FIPs below 2.00 during the 2014, 2015, and 2016 season. He won the Triple Crown award during the 2013 season and even won an MVP as a pitcher (which is extraordinarily difficult in today's game). His K/9 was consistently in the top 10 and his deadly fastball and curveball combo gave many hitters a difficult time to adjust to Kershaw's pitches.

Now that Kershaw is 31 years old, he is not performing quite as well as he did during his prime. Of course, Kershaw is a well-above-average pitcher, posting a 88 FIP- during the 2019 season, but nowhere quite as jaw-dropping as the 45 FIP- during the 2016 season. When analyzing the reason for this change, looking at the chart above might give us some insight as to the type of player that Clayton Kershaw is now.

During his prime, he relied on his fastball quite a lot, throwing it nearly half or 60% of the time. However, with his aging body, his velocity with the fastball has deteriorated significantly, so hitters are not quite so intimidated by the pure speed and control the Kershaw has over his fastball previously. We can see a similar thing in CC Sabathia, who also relied quite a lot on a fast fastball to dominate hitters during his prime years. As a result, Kershaw has had to rely on other pitchers to compensate for his weak fastball. As evident in the chart above, he now throws slider 30-40% of the time as opposed to the 20% during his prime. He throws his curveball a lot more, but his usage of his changeup has not changed significantly.

When analyzing the changes in Kershaw's pitching style, it is nothing to be overly concerned about. As players get older, their bodies are not as energetic or as strong as their younger self, so pitchers need to adjust a new style of pitching that their bodies can handle. I think that once Kershaw adjusts more towards his new style of pitching we can see glimpses of his former dominance (maybe 2 to 3 years).