February 19th, 2018 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka For many baseball fans, spring training is little more than that boring six to eight weeks between the off-season and real baseball. In fact, chances are exceptionally good that at some point during those six to eight weeks, you will hear the phrase “meaningless spring training games” at least once … only once if you’re lucky, that is. But for true connoisseurs of the game, those who make their annual pilgrimage to Arizona or Florida regardless of the distances involved to watch their favorite teams and players prepare for a grueling 162-games season (and hopefully the postseason), spring training is as much a part of their lives as is breathing.
But aside from the opportunity to see their favorite players up close and personal and perhaps even get an autograph from them, spring training allows fans the opportunity to watch them hone their skills and work on the minute details that separates good from great. Keep in mind that there are only 750 major leaguers in the entire world.
This past Saturday morning, three-time National League Cy Young award winner, five-time NL ERA champ, seven-time NL All-Star, former Gold Glover and 2014 NL MVP left-hander Clayton Kershaw had his second official bullpen session of the spring. And even though several times during the (approximately) 10-minute-long session the Dodgers ace could be heard cursing to himself about missing an exact spot or not getting the exact results on a specific pitch, those witnessing the session were in absolute awe.
“I’m right where I should be, normal,” Kershaw told reporters, when pitchers and catchers reported for spring training last Tuesday. “I’ve thrown a few bullpens, have one tomorrow the first day. I’m ready to go.”
When Clayton Kershaw is on the mound, even during a bullpen session, people just naturally stop what they’re doing and watch. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
As a surprise to absolutely no one, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed the obvious when he revealed early in the week – like the first day – that Kershaw would be his opening day starter, the eighth of his soon-to-be 11th season in the big leagues.
“The cat’s out of the bag,” Roberts said with a laugh on Tuesday at Camelback Ranch.
With two full bullpen sessions now under his belt and with his first live-game action set for this coming Friday against the Dodgers spring training camp mates, the Chicago White Sox, how does Kershaw look? Perhaps the guy with the second best view (aside from catcher Yasmani Grandal) is Dodgers utility infielder / outfielder Rob Segedin, who stood in the batters box during Kershaw’s bullpen session on Saturday.
“Nice,” said Segedin repeatedly during Kershaw’s session.
Although Segedin was in the batters box solely for the purpose of giving the soon-to-be 30-year-old (on March 19) Kershaw a pitching reference point, his repeated one word assessment of Kershaw’s bullpen session pretty much summed it up best. But for those witnessing from the sidelines, the one word description that they might use is one best left unsaid in a civilized conversation.
Dodgers utility infielder / outfielder stood in the batters box during Kershaw’s bullpen session on Saturday, during which he was heard saying “Nice” several times. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
There’s greatness … and then there’s Clayton Kershaw.
Nice indeed.
Posted in 
We ALL love Clayton.
A GREAT pitcher and future HOFer, 1,935 regular season innings pitched with a 2.36 ERA. Fantastic. He still has one thing to prove, his 122 post season innings pitched with a pedestrian 4.35 ERA and 7 and 7 record is a fluke.
Although Doc excluded Kershaw when mentioning that they are planning to cut back on the workload of several (many) starters and relievers this season, one has to believe that the Dodgers will do something to better prepare their ace for the (hopeful) postseason this year.
That being said, I’d sure hate to be the guy having to tell Kersh this … if you get my drift.
That’s a little disappointing Ron. No one should have to “hate” being that guy.
Kershaw maybe a great pitcher, but the Dodger organization is bigger and more important than ANY player. Dodgers management has assembled a deep bench of starters and relievers, many with big potential. The organization HAS TO utilize this strength whether Kershaw likes it or not.
I see a six man rotation with starters maxing out at 5 – 6 innings during the regular season, including Kershaw. Why not? The organization has the starters and relievers to pull it off while winning. If Kershaw can’t see the wisdom of that after having back problems over the last two years, I just don’t know what to say.
Regarding that 6 man rotation, pitching 5-6 innings. A problem I see with that is that it limits the BP to 7 men, pitching 3-4 innings every game. While giving the starters more rest the BP is carrying a heavier load.
That means a 4 man bench, one of whom is a catcher. With the Dodgers, assuming the catchers are Barnes and Grandal, Barnes can play IF, keeping himself eligible to move to catcher. Grandal can play 1B, but I’ve never liked seeing the back-up catcher there. I always have this vision of both catchers crashing into each other chasing a foul pop-up.
Personally, I think it’s time for roster expansion.
I specifically asked Doc if a six-man rotation was something they were considering. His answer … “No.”
Yeah, I don’t see a six man rotation in a traditional sense. More like a pitcher a week going on the 10 day DL. A five man rotation means starting approximately 32 games each (Six man rotation 27 starts). Since Friedman has arrived Dodgers the only pitchers to have made at least 30 starts in a season:
2015-Greinke 32 starts, Kershaw 33 starts, Anderson 31 starts.
2016-Maeda 32 starts
2017-None
The extensive use of the 10 day DL also has the effect of increasing the size of the pitching staff. I’m with Respect the Rivalry, don’t know why the roster size hasn’t been increased. (I’d like to see every team have a base stealing specialist.)
I don’t always agree with these guys, but I think they are spot on here:
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-the-dodgers-are-using-baseballs-new-dl-rules-to-get-an-edge/