(USA TODAY Sports Images)

Clayton Kershaw became the first NL pitcher in 46 years to win the MVP award on Thursday night, capping off an incredible season in which he went 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA and also won the NL Cy Young Award. But though Kershaw’s spectacular year earned him the MVP award, seemingly all anyone wanted to talk about after he won it were his faithful bros.

When Clayton Kershaw won the NL Cy Young Award in 2013, he appeared on SportsCenter surrounded by some of his childhood friends, all looking like they were ready to bro it down pretty hard. On Wednesday, when he won his third NL Cy Young Award, they did it again — only with one extra dude in the room:

Note that the six holdovers from 2013 posed in the same formation in 2014. And apparently Clayton Kershaw’s buddies dress business-casual when they go hang out at his house. It could easily be a guerrilla marketing campaign for Express for Men.

When Kershaw appeared on camera alone for his SportsCenter interview on Thursday, host Jon Anderson immediately asked where the friends were.

“They’re back here,” Kershaw said. “They got blown up on the Internet so bad last night.”

The friends could be heard laughing off-camera.

“They’re just sitting there, judging me, sitting on every word that I say,” Kershaw said. “They’re making sure I don’t screw up.”