Steve Webb
Dodgers’ ace rounding into form
SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Kersh is starting to look like, well, Kersh. In his most impressive start of Spring Training, the Dodgers veteran left-hander pitched four scoreless innings in a 5-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in afternoon Cactus League play.
Other than surrendering a solid single down the left field line in the bottom of the first, Clayton had a near-perfect outing. He retired all of the other 12 D-backs he faced, striking out three along the way. In all, Kershaw threw 40 pitches, landing 29 of them for strikes. Four innings on just forty pitches is, needless to say, a very efficient outing.
And, in addition to his usual array of pitches, Kershaw broke out his oft-rumored changeup a few times. In postgame interviews, Clayton was still not convinced he would be packing the cambio in his suitcase and taking it back to LA when the Dodgers break camp next week. Christian Walker put a pretty good swing on a changeup in the final pitch of his outing, so it might take a little more success in Arizona before he breaks it out in a game that counts.
The changeup has been a rarely used alternative. Since 2014, he has never thrown it more than 25 times in a season. Only in his rookie year of 2008 did it account for more than 5% of his pitches. “There hasn’t been a grip that he’s trusted to take into the season,” Roberts explained, “that he can use in any leverage at-bat.”
In addition to the solid Kershaw outing, Edwin Rios smacked a home run, and Freddie Freeman went 1-for-3 to raise his Spring Training batting average to over .300. Cody Bellinger took another 0fer. Mookie Betts still hasn’t gotten on track yet, going 0-for-3, but he’s only had a few at-bats this spring.
With the loss against the Diamondbacks, the Dodgers fall to 2-5 and a bunch of ties for Spring Training. And we’re only about ten days from the first day of the season. Quite a few things need to be worked out before the Dodgers head to Anaheim for the Freeway Series on Sunday. Not the least of which is determining who exactly is going to get the last handful of roster spots that are still available. Doc has some thinkin’ to do.
In other news, our Will Smith did not slap anybody.
