Clayton Kershaw optioned to Jacksonville

I was as surprised as you undoubtedly are, but no one was more surprised that Kershaw himself. Joe Torre stressed, both to Clayton and to the media, that the move was more about needing a roster spot for Hiroki Kuroda, who is coming off the DL and starting tonight, than it was about the way Clayton has pitched. But as Clayton himself said, “Any way you spin it, I’m getting sent down. They can say they didn’t have enough room, but they (brought) me up when they didn’t have enough room, because all those (pitchers) were healthy then.” Haven’t gotten a definitive explanation yet of why it’s Jacksonville and not Las Vegas, but I’m sure it’s because they don’t want to subject the kid to the psychological perils of pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. … Still nothing on Furcal, but Torre admitted he now has to take on the mindset that Furcal isn’t coming back until he does. At this point, I’m not convinced he is coming back at all, but Torre was a bit more cautious. “We have half a season (left),” he said. “I would like to think that is going to happen.”