The Los Angeles Dodgers quickly re-signed Clayton Kershaw to a one-year contract after the MLB lockout ended, but that wasn’t their only move to address the starting rotation. The club had previously signed Andrew Heaney and later added Tyler Anderson to the mix.
Anderson is plenty familiar with the Dodgers as he has started against them 15 times since making his MLB debut in 2016. Anderson found himself at the center of controversy the following year when he unintentionally disrupted Kershaw’s routine during a start against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium.
Anderson walked at a leisurely pace from the bullpen to the dugout as Kershaw was ready to throw his first pitch to leadoff hitter Charlie Blackmon.
Anderson explained he was late walking back to the Rockies dugout because of shoulder tightness that prevented him from playing catch during pregame warmups, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“I’ve heard,” said Anderson. “I haven’t forgot about that.”
“It was just kind of an unfortunate situation,” Anderson said, explaining the circumstances nearly five years later. “I’m a very routine guy, down to the minute for everything I do. But I went out to the field to play catch 45 minutes before the game. I was on the field stretching, went to throw and I was just, ‘Oh man, I can’t really throw very well. This thing (his shoulder) is pretty tight. It’s not going to be good.’ “So I went into panic mode. Went inside and got some work done on my shoulder to try and loosen it up. Then I went back out and threw, like, 10 throws and tried to go as fast as I could. Behind the 8 ball.”
Anderson took the blame for the incident and considers it water under the bridge now that he is teammates with Kershaw:
Anderson said there are no hard feelings about Kershaw’s harsh reaction. “No. He’s a competitor,” Anderson said. “To disrupt his routine was probably not fair. I don’t blame him for that. And he gave up a couple runs that inning too (just one, actually) which he never does. So he was probably mad about that too. That’s my fault. That’s my bad.”
Kershaw went on to collect 10 strikeouts and allowed just two runs over seven innings to earn the win. However, he didn’t let Anderson’s slow walk to the dugout pass without being addressed.
“That was one of the more disrespectful things I’ve been a part of in a game,” Kershaw said afer the game. “I really didn’t appreciate that. The game starts at 7:10, it’s started at 7:10 here for a really long time. Just go around, or finish earlier. That wasn’t appreciated.”
Anderson happy to fill any role with Dodgers
Anderson has been stretched out as a starter since signing, but did shift to the bullpen for at least the early portion of the regular season.
After two relief appearances to piggyback Tony Gonsolin, the left-hander now gets a chance to make his first start for the Dodgers on Saturday due to Andrew Heaney landing on the 10-day injured list with left shoulder discomfort.
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