West Coast Bias » Clayton Kershaw

Clayton Kershaw, The Arrival

BG — Mon, 26 May 2008 21:21:00 +0000

Here’s what the boys at Baseball Tonight had to say about Sliced Bread’s debut last night. As you probably already know, this was an event that not only us Dodger fans but fantasy dorks worldwide were pretty excited about, and something that makes sports so fantastic. Let’s be honest with ourselves, the Dodgers are not a good baseball team. The top two in their rotation have won a grand total of 1 game this month (and that coming on May 2nd). Jeff Kent looks to be just about cooked. James Loney hasn’t hit for about two weeks. The highest paid player in team history is on the DL (which may not be such a bad thing, obviously). Today they left 12 men on base in a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Cubs and very nearly caused me to throw my remote at the TV.

Someone like Kershaw gives us hope for a better tomorrow. I opted to wait 24 hours before writing about the fastball he blew past Schumaker and the jelly-leg he gave Troy Glaus in the first. Whether he ends up in Cooperstown or goes the way of one-time-prospect Edwin Jackson, having a prospect like Kershaw gives us a reason to believe. When was the last time you heard Dodger fans applauding pitches in the first inning? It’s why we follow the box scores of AA teams on the other side of the country. It’s why we send taunting emails to our friends who have the misfortune of being Giants fans. It’s why we write blogs like this.

Photo via Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press

4:54 AM

WCBias Guest — Sun, 25 May 2008 17:10:00 +0000

The story I’m about to tell you is factual and without embellishment. You should also know I’m not proud of it either. If you have ever read this blog even once, you know BG talks a lot about Clayton Kershaw (and rightfully so, because he looks like he is going to be dirty).

Yes it’s true, he is pitching today but more importantly he became available in Yahoo Fantasy Baseball leagues worldwide. You see, for the past 2 weeks upon hearing speculation that Kershaw was close to being called up from Double-A ball, I would routinely go to my league’s waiver wire to see if he had been added to the game. Every time I typed in K-E-R (you only have to type in the players first 3 letters of their last name to find them) I would get a bunch of guys that I had never heard of and KERry Wood (certainly don’t want that headache).

However, yesterday it was rumored that not only would he be called up but he would be starting the final game of the series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, May 25. This start would all but force those bastards at Yahoo to add him into the game. I’m not sure if it is a computer program that adds guys to the game as they are officially called up by their Major League team or if it is just some guy that loves to play with my emotions and adds players to the game whenever he sees fit, therefore causing all of us great pain and stress. So yesterday, I literally type K-E-R into my player pool 8 times before I finally realize that either the computer program or that guy at Yahoo responsible for adding players is not going to do it on May 24.

So rather then go to bed at 11:30 pm when I wanted to, I stayed up till 12:01 am to see if Mr. Kershaw would be my next waiver wire gem. However, he was not available at that time either. I waited until about 12:45 am but still no luck. I decided that I would just leave the computer on all night and check it whenever I happened to wake up or need a little sip of water.

What ensued next was not ideal or nothing that I’m particularly proud of. I tossed and turned all night thinking about a 20-year-old man who plays baseball and will never ever even know my name. Then the unthinkable happened, I started dreaming about him. No joke, in my dream I was in my room back in L.A. when I was 8 years old, but this time I was racing some invisible mystery to see who could pick up Clayton Kershaw first. I’M SERIOUS, this dream actually happened. However, this dream turned into a nightmare because not only did the mystery man add Kershaw, but I also flipped out and started throwing all my belongings through my window into a dark abyss. Strangely, my entire family was there to watch and no one seemed to try and stop my; it was as if they knew what is was like to lose a guy like Clayton … Then I woke up at 4:54 am.

I thought about my dream for a second and the realized I had completely become a lunatic, addicted to fantasy people. What did I do next? You got it, I grabbed my computer, typed in K-E-R and guess who I found? I actually got nervous and accidentally clicked on a Chevy ad that took me to their website. I regrouped and got back to the waiver wire. I added Kershaw and just then my girlfriend woke up and said:

“Greg, what are you doing?”

I said, “Don’t worry about, you wouldn’t understand even if I tried to explain it.”

She said, “Does it have something to do with fantasy sports?” I didn’t respond.

She said, “I hate you.”

I said, “So do I.”

The Future Has Arrived

BG — Sun, 25 May 2008 16:47:00 +0000

Clayton Kershaw is going to pitch today. I really don’t think any more needs to be said on the subject, except perhaps that I set my alarm for 5:30 this morning to give myself the best possible chance of being able to add him in my fantasy league. Sadly, G SLIM had set his alarm for 4:30. This is going to be big.

WEST	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	STRK	L10
Arizona	29	20	.592	-	19-8	10-12	253	196	L 1	5-5
LA Dodgers	25	23	.521	3.5	14-11	11-12	226	209	L 2	6-4
San Francisco	20	29	.408	9	11-15	9-14	179	231	W 3	4-6
Colorado	19	30	.388	10	11-14	8-16	206	252	L 1	4-6
San Diego	18	33	.353	12	10-14	8-19	170	244	L 2	3-7

Despite Dodgers' Claims He's Not Quite Ready, Clayton Kershaw Changes Name to "Sliced Bread"

BG — Fri, 16 May 2008 05:10:00 +0000

All kinds of Sliced Bread updates today courtesy of both Rob Neyer (Insider only) and a fascinating glimpse from Hardball Times. The Dodgers have opted NOT to bring Kershaw up to start on the 17th as was suggested earlier this week and are instead going to give Chang-Who the nod instead. Neyer seems to think the club is better suited having him continue to pitch in AA and maybe make a start or two in Las Vegas before calling him up (if even then) and I will default to his wisdom there.
Of note from Neyer:

“I don’t know that Kershaw needs an entire season in AA, and nearly half a season in AAA. He seems to be a notch or two above Billingsley. But I don’t believe it’s in anyone’s long-term interest for Kershaw to join the major-league rotation now, or any time within the next two or three months.
–SNIP–
Yes, it’s difficult to play in the big leagues. Andruw Jones is living proof of that. But it’s pretty clear that Kershaw’s talented enough to survive in the majors, and perhaps even thrive, right now. We know he’s got the pitches. And the performance? Thanks to lousy support, Kershaw hasn’t won a game this spring; he’s 0-3. But in 37 innings he’s struck out 40 batters, walked 11, and hasn’t given up even one home run. Last season Kershaw’s control was a small concern, and his BB/9 ratio still isn’t the best you’ll see. Still, he’s clear that he has little left to learn in the Southern League.”

And from Hardball Times (seriously go to the website for an in-depth analysis of his mechanics and stuff):

“After running through Kershaw’s mechanics, injury risk, overall stuff and numbers, we can now answer the question: Is Clayton Kershaw worth the hype? The answer is yes…for the most part. Kershaw has a couple of red flags, but pitchers who seem to have a good head on their shoulders, have an athletic build, possess two pitches that rate as plus to plus-plus and display clean mechanics are of a rare breed.

Health may be the only thing that could keep Kershaw from becoming a front line starter. Just how good Kershaw could become likely depends on the improvements he makes with his change-up and his command. If everything goes right, Kershaw could blossom into one of the five best starters in baseball.”

So Dodger fans are going to have to wait and Yahoo! fantasy managers are going to have to keep going to the Player Pool typing his name in, in hopes he’ll be added soon.

Kershaw to pitch? Internet expected to crash due to fantasy speculation

BG — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:20:00 +0000

I’ve got to get a new keyboard. Ever since video of Clayton Kershaw’s absolutely disgusting deuce he dropped on a helpless Sean Casey (make sure to have your speakers on for some vintage Vin Scully) started making the rounds during Spring Training, I’ve been leaking drool out of the corner of my mouth and all over my poor Dell, just like that dog in Turner & Hooch. So far this season, Kershaw has been lighting up AA batters and according to Dylan Hernandez Dodger fans might not have to wait much longer for his pro debut, thanks to the Dodgers moving Esteban Loaiza to the DL with an injury of some sort (fun game: try reading Hernandez’ piece, wait twenty minutes and then try to remember what Loaiza’s injury is. Amazing how the brain can block out unimportant information). This announcement, if accurate, couldn’t come at a better time for the Dodgers. Despite the club’s recent success, the staffâ€”once seen as a strong suitâ€”is officially in “bend but don’t break” mode; LA has amassed only one Quality Start over the last seven outings (turned in by Billingsley, who has two of their last three) and has leaned heavily on the bullpen in the process.

After Penny’s outing Wednesday it’s pretty safe to say the Dodgers lack a true ace, a truly dominant arm who can stop a losing skid and kick start a winning streak. Sure, Kershaw isn’t going to be that guy right out of the chute and the league is full of highly touted prospects who have totally flamed out last/this year (I’m looking at you, Homer Bailey, Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes) but after watching that yakker to Casey again:kinda makes you wonder right? Make sure to have your spittoon handy.

Dodgers Win Again; Andruw Jones on Fire, has 2 Game Hit Streak

BG — Sun, 04 May 2008 04:40:00 +0000

The Dodgers made it eight in a row, beating up on the Rockies (again) 12-7. Our boys jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead after two innings but The Worst Pitcher I Have Ever Seen Not Named Barry Zito (TWPIHESNNBZ), Esteban Loaiza quickly gave them all right back and failed to make it out of the 3rd inning. This is the fourth straight uninspiring start for TWPIHESNNBZ and one can only wonder when the Clayton Kershaw watch will begin in earnest (how are you 0-3 with an ERA of 1.11 by the way). The bullpen pitched very well, allowing only two runs the rest of the way but TWPIHESNNBZ’s failure to go deep forced Torre to tax a bullpen in need of a rest. Lowe takes the hill tomorrow and has fairly miserable career splits in Coors (0-2, ERA over 11 last year) so hopefully the boys in the pen will have a few bullets left to fire tomorrow.

AJ Update: Jones is seriously on fire right now. If you’d told me two days ago that he would have put together a sweet two-game hit streak, going a torrid 2-10 over that span, I would have laughed right in your face. AJ struck out on three pitches in the first, an at-bat bad even by his standards. He managed to see eight pitches before K’ing in his second at-bat, which I think can be described as vintage AJ at this point. After the game Psycho Lyons pined openly for Torre to bench Jones and play Kemp, Ethier and Pierre (who had another good day with 3 knocks and 2 bags) for the next few games. It’s tough to really be looking for line-up or personnel changes in the midst of the club’s longest winning streak since mid-2006 but he’s got a point.

Arizona won as well, staying four games up on LA in the process. Brandon Webb ran his record to a sparkling 7-0 but did serve up a 3 run bomb to Carlos Delgado’s corpse, which cost my fantasy team a Quality Start. Bastard.