Dodgers News: Clayton Kershaw Talks Plan for Incorporating New Changeup
Bucking the trend of teaching an old dog new tricks, the long anticipated return of veteran lefty Clayton Kershaw gave audiences a glimpse of a possible new pitch in the Dodger lifer’s arsenal.
In his first start back from the injured list, Kershaw explained his thought process for his new fourth option, a changeup, to confuse hitters going forward.
“I threw it four times, and it’s like I threw it a million times. I threw four of them, three of them were actually OK. So I don’t know, maybe I’ll try to use it maybe four, five times a game, something like that.”
via Juan Toribio, MLB.com
For Kershaw, the return to the mound from a long layoff was a big relief and fans at Chavez Ravine were excited to see their veteran back on the bump as they’ve seen hundreds of times before.
Despite some nerves from Dodger skipper Dave Roberts, a strong start for Kershaw was more encouraging after six weeks away from game action.
Kershaw threw just 67 pitches with two thirds of those being for strikes over five innings of work. The lone blemish of the night came on a solo home run in the fifth that Kershaw gave up to Elehuris Montero.
Though the offense couldn’t pick up a win for Kershaw over his sparkling start, Max Muncy eventually tied and later won the game in later innings.
Muncy mashed a solo home run off of Rockies starter Ty Blach that knotted the game at 1 in the 7th inning, then later drew a bases-loaded walk in the 8th to eventually win it for LA.
Following Kershaw, Ryan Yarbrough threw three shutout innings in relief of the veteran and continued his stretch of excellent play since being acquired from the Royals at the deadline.
Opting for another option out of the pen due to Evan Phillips’ recent usage in Arizona, Brusdal Graterol come on for the save and closed the door in 1-2-3 fashion to give LA their fifth straight win.
October remains the priority for the team and Kershaw, though he didn’t pitch as long of a start as we’re accustomed to, will be a big part of LA’s postseason plans. And apparently, he’ll be doing it with a new pitch.
Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
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