Clayton Kershaw will be in a familiar situation Thursday night when the Los Angeles Dodgers take the field against the San Francisco Giants. The Opening Day start will mark the ninth of Kershaw’s career; eight of which were consecutively from 2011-2018.
However, the similarities with pitching in a season opener will effectively end there. Sure, bunting will hang on rails throughout Dodger Stadium, and Kershaw will be in the Dodgers’ traditional home white uniform. But there won’t be fans.
“I’m still very excited about starting Opening Day,” Kershaw said. “Especially when it didn’t look very good for a while that we would get to play. … It’s not going to look the same, it’s going to be a lot different than what we expected, but at the end of the day it’s still baseball and I’m excited about that.
“It might not feel the same way in the stadium, it might not feel the same way around here and different things like that, but for the people watching at home, it will mean something to them. We need to remember when we go out there that there still are a lot of people watching and they still want us to win just as bad.”
Even with the Dodgers utilizing piped-in crowd noise to, the absence of fans has prompted Kershaw to mull how he can make up for the added adrenaline they would provide. It’s among the many aspects of an unusual season that Kershaw is finding himself needing to adjust to.
“You just have to roll with the punches a little bit. I’m a creature of habit, to say the least, I like to keep things the same and I’m very routine-oriented. But this year is going to be different, and I know that going into it,” he said. “There’s going to be a new normal.
“We’re kind of getting used to that here. I think these three weeks were preparing us for what it might look like. This year, we’re just going to have to accept it and deal with it.”
Speaking of change
Kershaw built a Hall of Fame career behind a quality fastball and devastating slider and curveball. However, the backend of Kershaw’s career has seen velocity come off the fastball and thus impact the effectiveness of his slider.
The left-hander has regularly toyed with adding a changeup to his pitch mix but has never quite managed to get a consistent feel for the grip. “I feel good with it. Good might not be the right word. I feel average with it,” Kershaw said of his changeup this year.
“I’m going to be honest, it’s not going to be a pitch I’m throwing 25% of the time or something like that. If there’s situations I can mix it in and throw it five to 10 times a game, make it something that at least is in the back of hitters’ minds as a fourth pitch to think about, that would be a goal. I think I have the ability to do that. We’ll see what happens.”
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in our shows, and more!
