September is already here, which means it’s time to measure the pressure gauge for the last few weeks of the season.

September is here, and the pressure is cranking up for first-place clubs, World Series favorites, MVP candidates, the commissioner and the list goes on. SI’s MLB experts weigh in with who they think is facing the most pressure as the calendar flips another page.

Tom Verducci: Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw

It’s been a long time since one team established itself so far above the other 29, as the Dodgers have done. So there’s pressure right there. And Kershaw knows himself he needs a legacy game if not an outright World Series championship to quiet the talk about his postseason struggles.

After he gave up homers to Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto to blow a lead in NLDS Game 5 last year, Kershaw admitted, “Everything people say is true right now