Clayton Kershaw: The lost interview

Kershaw: I'll be back out here in January for that two-week camp, so I might ask a couple people, but that's about it.  I'm not going to make too big of plans.

BK: Don't want to assume anything?

Kershaw:  Yeah. 

BK: If the season started today, you'd be in the rotation for sure as a number two, three or four starter.  Have you started thinking of your career in those terms?  That you could not just crack the rotation but be a major part of it?

Kershaw: As far as I know, I'm a starting pitcher, so I prepare myself in the offseason for that.  Wherever I start, I'll be ready to do that.  If it's here, if it's somewhere else (meaning the minors, not another organization, because he ain't going anywhere), if it's the second starter, if it's the fifth starter, it's still starting pitching, you still do the same thing every time.  I'll prepare myself that way and go from there. 

BK: You were on a pretty strict innings and pitch count last season.  Do you have any idea of how that changes at all this season?  What they're planning on having you do?

Kershaw: I think they plan on building innings every year.  Last year I came out and felt great in September and October.  The arm felt fine.  So I don't know if there are going to be restrictions or limitations or whatever you want to call it, but I'm sure the innings will go up.  Hopefully, we can even get to around the 200 mark, or something like that. 

BK: Do you worry about that?

Kershaw: I don't worry about it.  It's not my job to worry about it.  I'll go out and pitch.  As long as my arm feels good, it's really all I can worry about. 

BK: Last year, you had a great spring training, then went back and forth a little between AA and the bigs.  What was that experience like for you, to go as quickly as you did from the minors to the majors?

Kershaw: Last year was awesome.  It was a lot of firsts for me, a lot of great first experiences.  It was a huge learning experience to get to go up in spring, with the whirlwind of spring training and how fast that all went.  Then go back to Jacksonville to work on stuff, and get called up.  The first start (in the bigs) was awesome, but that first eight-to-10-start stretch was a little tough.  I was definitely a learning experience.  Then to get sent down felt like a step back, definitely a humbling experience.  "Hey kid, you don't have it made yet," you know? 

I went down for a couple weeks and figured some things out.  When I came back up, from that first stretch to the second stretch where I was up here, it was a big difference for me.  Knowing what to expect, what to think about in different situations, how to handle different situations, and had a better outcome.

BK:  Were you surprised?  Did you think when you got here the first time you were staying? 

Kershaw: No, you never think that.  Your job's never secure.  You've always got to prove yourself every time out, and I didn't prove myself.  I came up here and did OK, but that's not what they wanted me up here to do.  That's not what I wanted to do.  Pitching OK isn't really in the plans.  You're supposed to pitch well.  That second time up I still had some struggles -- one good start, one bad, one good, one bad -- and was pretty inconsistent, but I got some wins under my belt, got some good innings, and got some very valuable experience. 

BK: What was the difference between "OK" and "well" for you last year?

Kershaw: I think innings come a little easier when you're pitching well.  Pounding the strike zone, it's cliche and everyone says it, but it really does make a huge difference.  Ball one or strike one. If you get that first strike across, you can dictate the at-bat, you can dictate what pitch you want to throw.  When you get behind hitters, especially up here, it's so much easier (for hitters to make pitchers) pay for mistakes.  I learned that the hard way a couple times.  The good hitters up here are good; you just have to make your pitches.

BK: How many people sent you that YouTube clip of the spring training curveball to Sean Casey?

Kershaw: In spring, I heard a lot about it.  My buddies called me up and said, "Hey, you've made YouTube!"  I was like, "OK, great."  It was just one curveball, though. I guess it was flattering.  But it was short-term, short-lived. 

BK: It took a while for you to get that first win.  Was it frustrating?

Kershaw: Wins come and go, and I didn't win a lot last year, but that's baseball.  There are so many things that can dictate wins.  It doesn't necessarily mean you didn't pitch well; it's just sometimes tough to come by.  But there's definitely a little burden lifted off when you get that first win.  And you know what happened.  I went down (to Jacksonville), got a win or two, then came back up and sure enough, I got some wins.  That's just the way it goes.  Wins are a misleading statistic.  As long as you get pitch well and give your team a chance to win, that's all you can really do.

BK:  But at least when you got it, we could stop asking you.

Kershaw: Exactly. 

BK: Does your offseason preparation change -- either mentally or physically -- with the idea you'll be facing big-league hitters all year?

Kershaw: Nothing different.  I think what I've done to get prepared for seasons has worked so far, and just because it's hopefully going to be in L.A., and hopefully on this stage the whole year, it doesn't change how I want to pitch.  It doesn't change how I want to go after hitters, it doesn't change my arm strength or anything like that.  So really I'm just taking it like that, and hopefully the way I've been preparing will prepare me to pitch up here too.

BK: At the end of the season, you had a chance to be in a bullpen with Greg Maddux. Did you guys talk a lot?

Kershaw:  I got to talk to him a lot.  I can't believe that was his last year.  It's a pretty good story to tell that I was around to see his last pitch thrown.  I was in the bullpen to see it.  He's a great teacher, and can explain things in a way that other people can't because he has that first-hand experience.  He says, "Do it like this," and you look at him and he's got 355 wins, so you've got to take his word for it.  I loved talking to him.  He just knows so much about pitching, and hopefully he'll come back and coach somewhere down the road because he can definitely help a lot of young pitchers out. 

BK: And if you ask Maddux, he'll shrug it off, and say he doesn't really do much for people in that way.  But he really does give away good information?

Kershaw: He wants you to be interested, I think.  He's not going to start randomly talking to you if you've never talked to him before, but if you show interest in what he has to say, if you talk to him and ask questions a little bit, he's very open with all the information he has.  I had a good time talking to him.

BK: Is it tough to sidle up to Greg Maddux and start asking him questions?  It's Greg Maddux.

Kershaw: At first, we were both starting.  That's when I kind of got to know him, sitting on the bench.  At first, I just listened to what he had to say, and listened to other conversations that he had.  Finally I just started asking my own questions.  But you never just want to go up there as a young kid and take it for granted who you're talking to.  I stood back a little and waited my turn.  I just asked him about pitching.  What do you think about this situation?  What pitch would you throw here?  How do you throw this?  How do you grip that?  It opens up to other things he has to say, and other stories.  It's fun.

BK: What worked for you at the major league level last year, and what didn't?

Kershaw: Pretty much what's always worked.  When I throw my fastball for strikes, it dictates how I'm going to pitch that day. Getting the curveball over is obviously important.  The changeup didn't work, really.  Sometimes it did. I just didn't have enough confidence to throw it in big situations.  Hopefully that'll change this year.

BK: Is that a big goal, to add a reliable third pitch?

Kershaw: Yeah.  I just have to keep working on it. 

BK: When you look at the differences between major league and minor league pitching, whether it's the process of learning to pitch to more contact, or whatever, as someone who piled up strikeouts in the minor leagues, is that something you need to learn or adjust to?  That you can't always make people miss in the big leagues?

Kershaw: I don't think pitching to contact is a good term.  I don't think you let a guy hit a ball.  You want him to hit the pitch you want to throw, but it's not, "OK, here you go, let's hit it, let's not strike this guy out." I don't think that's the mind-set anyone wants you to have.  At the same time, making contact means making a good pitch that he'll swing at, but not worrying about making the perfect pitch where he'll swing and miss at.  Just make a good, quality pitch and get him out, whether it be a strikeout, a ground ball, or whatever it is. 

I think that's what it means, and I've learned that.  0-2, you don't want to throw three balls and run it to 3-2.  You want to make a good pitch and get him out quick to save your pitches. 

BK: How hard is to learn pitch preservation, to help you go from the fifth to the seventh?

Kershaw: I think it just takes time.  It takes strikes, mainly.  The more strikes you get, the more quickly you'll get outs.  Throwing strikes is the main thing. 

BK: You mentioned those important firsts. Were there a few that stuck out?

Kershaw: That first start was awesome. I had the family out, and it was great.  I pitched fine -- I didn't get the win or anything, but just to be out there and have your dream come true, it's all you could ever ask for.  The first big league win was a big deal, and the first hit was kind of fun. The first start, I have that ball in a closet somewhere. But the first win and the first hit, they're somewhere at mom's house.

BK: Which can you pull up quicker, the first strikeout or the first hit?

Kershaw: Both. The first hit is pretty cool because it was Albert Pujols.  So that's something I'll be able to talk about, to give it up to one of the best hitters in the game.  (Note: I meant the first hit Kershaw registered as a hitter, but I like that his thought process instead took him to the one he gave up.)  The first strikeout was also the first batter I faced, so Skip Schumaker, thank you.  Sorry, but I'll remember that for a while.

BK: And your first hit?

Kershaw: Cole Hamels!  It took a while, but I got it.  It took a long 15 or 16 at-bats, but I finally got it.  I'm nothing special as a hitter.  As long as you get your bunts down, that's really all that matters. 

BK: Do you pay attention to all the Hot Stove stuff?

Kershaw: Whatever they put on SportsCenter is what I hear.  I don't read a lot of newspapers, but what's going on doesn't really affect me. I've still got a job to do, but it's still exciting to hear (all the rumors).