With the Los Angeles Dodgers recently holding their first full-squad workout at Camelback Ranch, manager Dave Roberts wasted no time in naming Clayton Kershaw the club’s Opening Day starting pitcher.
For Kershaw, it will mark his ninth consecutive Opening Day start, extending a franchise record that was set last season when the left-hander broke a tie Don Drysdale and Don Sutton.
But given the emergence of Walker Buehler in what was a dominant 2018 rookie campaign, some felt that a change was needed, and that the 24-year-old was more deserving of receiving the nod on Opening Day.
While Buehler was humbled by those suggestions, he is a firm believer that Kershaw was the correct choice to lead the Dodgers on Opening Day, per Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
"… When Clayton Kershaw isn’t a Dodger anymore then you can start saying that stuff. But people saying that this year I thought was pretty ludicrous. I was like, ‘Fellas, do you see who’s on the other side of this clubhouse?’" #Dodgers
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) February 20, 2019
Kershaw is coming off — by his standards — an underwhelming season in which he was forced to reinvent himself on the mound. In 26 starts, he went 9-5 with a 2.73 ERA, 3.19 FIP and 1.04 WHIP over 161.1 innings of work.
Kershaw wasn’t pleased with those results and vowed to return to elite form in 2019. His spring hasn’t gotten off to an ideal start, however, as a shoulder issue has twice temporarily put a pause on his throwing program.
Roberts nonetheless has said Kershaw remains the Dodgers’ Opening Day starter. Should a change become necessary, it stands to reason Buehler would receive the nod against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
