Dodgers ace Kershaw good to go against Cubs in Game 2 of NLCS
When he's in a normal five-man rotation, he's getting proper rest, and it's the regular season, Clayton Kershaw is arguably the best starting pitcher in baseball.
The Los Angeles Dodgers' ace lefty has not been the same in the postseason, as his 3-6 career record and accompanying 4.79 ERA clearly indicate.
How is Kershaw going to be in Game 2 of the National League championship series Sunday night, only three days after pitching the ninth inning and closing out Game 5 of the NL division series against the Washington Nationals?
How sharp is he going to be after throwing 101 pitches in Game 1 of the NLDS and 110 pitches in Game 3?
The Chicago Cubs are going to find out.
The Dodgers are running on fumes and they've dealt with waves of injuries throughout the year. All told, 28 players were on the disabled list for Los Angeles this season, the most by any major-league team since at least 1987.
Kershaw was among the many walking wounded, and he was on the DL from June 27-Sept. 8 with a herniated disc in his back.
The layoff might actually help Kershaw continue carrying a heavy load in the playoffs.
“It was more the conversation, and it's not complicated in the sense of if he feels good, then it's a no-brainer,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of starting Kershaw in Game 2. “It's more of just getting assurance that he feels good physically, which he does. Obviously, when you get a chance for Clayton to pitch Games 2 and potentially 6, that's a good thing for us and, yeah, it's full go.”
Kershaw — who faces Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks in Game 2 — only threw 7 pitches Thursday night while recording the final two outs of the game against the Nationals.
In a sense, the short outing was similar to the throwing most major-league pitchers do in between starts.
“The intensity might have been just a hair different, but I would guess the quantity was probably pretty similar,” Kershaw said. “I feel fine. I feel good. I'm excited. It's been a little bit since we got to do this, and Wrigley Field, it's going to be pretty exciting.”
Hendricks returns to the mound after making an early exit in Game 2 of the NLDS against the San Francisco Giants. With two outs in the fourth inning, he was hit on the right forearm by an Angel Pagan line drive.
“Something happens to your arm, your throwing arm, it's not ideal,” Hendricks said. “Once I came out, once X-rays were negative, I felt a lot better about it. I knew it was going to be a bad bruise type of thing, get through a couple days and it wouldn't be a problem.”
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