Dodgers Blue Heaven: Blog Kiosk: 5/13/2016 - Dodgers Links

Friday, May 13, 2016

Blog Kiosk: 5/13/2016 - Dodgers Links - All About Clayton Kershaw

Preparation.

Clayton Kershaw not only warms up then studies the lineup for an upcoming game, but he also takes a moment to sit in the dugout, look out onto the field and mentally prepare for the job to come. In the photo above, via a tweet by the @Dodgers, he is shown taking some time before the game to get his mind in the right place. He's the best there is, and his physical and mental routine are the foundation for his excellence.

Last nights performance is an example of the outcome we've come to expect from Kershaw. Per Doug Padilla at ESPN:

“I don’t know how to explain it other than walking guys is how you get in trouble. For me, I’d rather have them string hits together and make them swing the bats to beat me. That’s just always my mentality.

So how good has he been? According to MLB on twitter, Clayton is the first pitcher since 1913 to record five straight starts with ten or more strike outs and one or fewer walks. In fact, in eight starts and 62 innings pitched he has walked only four batters. FOUR! It's a feat so remarkable that August Fagerstrom at FanGraphs took some time to write about each of those walks here.

Clayton Kershaw’s been nearly perfect this year. The pitcher who was already thought to be just about perfect before any of this is running a career-best ERA, a career-best FIP, and a career-best xFIP through eight starts, and he’s shaved his already-elite walk rate more than every pitcher in baseball except for one. He’s unthinkably walked just four batters out of 225, and a closer look into those walks reveals one walk that featured two borderline strikes and a check swing, another with the season’s worst-called ball plus another missed call, another with a borderline 0-1 call that could’ve swung the count, and a really good at-bat by David Wright with a couple bad misses by Kershaw.

BTW, you can go here to check out more pics from yesterdays game from Jon SooHoo here, and listen to him talk about his performance with Alanna Rizzo here. Below are more links to check out:

This Day in Dodgers History: Today was supposedly the day in 1947 when Pee Wee Reese put his arm around Jackie Robinson as a sign of solidarity at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Of course, we now know this incident never happened.
Happy Birthday, Johnny Roseboro and John Ely!
This is interesting, indeed. Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Clayton Kershaw and Sandy Koufax at 250 starts."
The final hurdle in the Time Warner/Bright House/Charter merger has now been crossed. The California PUC has approved the deal, and closing of the transaction is scheduled to happen on Wednesday. Hopefully this will be the impetus for expanded coverage of SportsNet LA throughout the Southland. Only time will tell, of course.
Raffle Time! Via Erin Edwards at Dodger Insider, "LADF 50/50 Raffle debuts tonight at Dodger Stadium." You can go here for more information.

This charitable in-game raffle will be launched at Dodger Stadium (last night), continuing here all season, and the proceeds will benefit LADF’s programs and giving to local youth organizations.

During every Dodger home game, tickets will be sold by staff in gold shirts throughout Dodger Stadium (and at three kiosk located in the stadium). The winning raffle number will be selected during the seventh inning to determine the 50/50 Raffle jackpot winner. The winning raffle number will be displayed in stadium during the eighth inning.

For each and every raffle, half of the 50/50 Raffle jackpot will go to the selected winner, and the other half will go to LADF for its programs and to support youth organizations across Los Angeles.

Blowout Buzz shares some preview picks from Topps 2016 Update set; including the awesome Kenta Maeda card on the right. Go here to check out more picks.
Here's some disappointing news. Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Pablo Fernandez out for the season after Tommy John surgery." You'll remember that we signed the 26-year old out of Cuba last year. He had since started in ten games in the minors with some decent numbers before hitting the DL with elbow tightness.
Via Craig Minami at True Blue LA, "Mike Bolsinger makes second solid rehab appearance."