On the surface, Clayton Kershaw’s spotless inning of work in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 5-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox in the Cactus League opener on Saturday was par for the course. He needed just 12 pitches to retire the side in order, collecting one strikeout in the process.
Ever the perfectionist, the Dodgers’ ace saw room for improvement. Kershaw described his results as “OK.” There was frustration over a lack of fastball command, falling behind in the count to each hitter, and he yelled in disgust after floating a changeup to the plate, which was called for ball.
Kershaw later said the pitch was “terrible.” He’s worked on a changeup for several years running now, and surmised during camp it would be tested during Cactus League starts. On Saturday, Kershaw followed the off-speed pitch by striking out Melky Cabrera three pitches later.
Kershaw continued his work in the bullpen, throwing an additional 17 pitches prior to retiring to the clubhouse. The one-inning start was a byproduct of the World Baseball Classic lending to a longer Spring Training.
That calls for at least five more starts this spring for Kershaw, and likely a sixth. He intends to use that time to refine his arsenal of pitches. “I never want to take for granted that it will be there when the season starts,” Kershaw explained.
“So, when something doesn’t work in spring, I’m going to stress out about it and worry about it until I fix it. I’m not just going to say, ‘Oh, I’ll figure it out at some point.’ Even if that might be the case, I feel like I have to harp on it and stress on it until I get it where I want it to be. Sometimes it doesn’t happen in spring but most of the time I feel pretty good coming out of it. I feel like I’m on the right track so far.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wasn’t nearly as critical of Kershaw’s performance. “It’s always nice to see him out there and competing,” Roberts said.
“I know he’s going to probably lose sleep over that one changeup he left out of the zone, but it was good to see him back out there.” Where Kershaw and Roberts agreed is on the 28-year-old’s health. Kershaw maintained his stance last year’s back injury being a non-issue moving forward.
“Clayton and I and the training staff communicated all winter, so there’s no surprise for us where he’s at now,” Roberts said. “If we wouldn’t have known his history last year, we’d think nothing of it. He looks great”
