Kuroda is fine

I just talked to Stan Conte, who told me the Dodgers have had Kuroda on a strengthening program for his right shoulder, where you may recall he had some soreness that landed him on the DL for the second half of June. He is fine now, but Conte and his team made it very clear to Kuroda that the success of this program depends upon his staying on a regular routine with it all the way through the end of spring training. That clearly includes the time of the WBC. Conte did say that Dodgers officials never specifically told Kuroda he should skip the WBC. But they certainly are happy to hear that he plans to. In the end, this is a perfect case of a guy putting his team’s needs ahead of his own, individual desires. Good for him, I say. … I’m off on another vacation tomorrow. See you on Jan. 9.

Happy Holidays, everyone.