It’s what Dodger fans – and the Dodger players themselves – have been waiting four very long months for. After a painful four-games-to-one World Series loss to the Boston Red Sox and four excruciatingly long months to think about it, Dodgers pitchers and catchers reported for spring training on Tuesday morning. And while there is little doubt that those who were part of that World Series will not completely forget the bitter taste of being the World Series runners-up (stay for Joe Kelly), the mood in the Dodgers Camelback Ranch clubhouse was chock full of excitement and the desire to get back at it for the 2019 season.

“Awesome to be back, off-seasons seem to go faster and faster, we had a blast this off-season,” said Dodgers right-hander Ross Stripling. “But it’s good to be back and Arizona is always fun.”

“Excited. Every year is great,” echoed Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw. “We’ve got some new faces it should be fun to get to know. Yeah, I mean kind of the same old story, starting the new season and excited to get back at it.

As many Dodger fans know, some in the national media have been rather critical about Kershaw, some going so far as to say that the future Hall of Famer is no longer an ace. But as Dodger fans also know, the now 30-year-old Dallas, Texas native doesn’t really care what the national media thinks.

When asked what he did during the off-season to prepare for the upcoming 2019 season, Kershaw was vaguely specific.

“I did different stuff trying to just to regain some stuff that I’ve lost, I guess is the best way to put it, to be vague,” he answered. “And just trying to figure out from where I was at from last season”

Asked what he did to try to regain that stuff, Kershaw was a bit less vague.

“It’s not so much about stuff, it’s just about feeling good,” Kershaw explained. “So I think that was more of it, trying to feel good every fifth day this season. We’ll find out, I guess. I don’t know, we’ll find out.”

Although the first bullpen session of the spring isn’t really a good barometer to evaluate if the three-time Cy Young award winner, seven-time All-Star, former Triple Crown winner, former MLB MVP, five-time ERA champion, former MLB Player of the Year, and Gold Glove winner regained his stuff, it was a very efficient bullpen session. It was also caught by current former Dodgers catcher Russell Martin, who actually asked fellow catcher Austin Barnes if it would be okay if he caught Kershaw’s ‘pen.

“Last time I caught [Kershaw] he didn’t have his slider,” Martin explained and was given the okay by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to catch his former batterymate.

Kershaw’s first bullpen session was 34 pitches, nearly all of which were made with Dodgers top catching prospect Will Smith standing in the batters box on both sides of the plate. Asked what Kershaw’s aforementioned slider looked like up close and personal, Smith grinned and said “It’s pretty good.”

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