Don Mattingly declined to go into the specific symptoms of Clayton Kershaw’s stomach flu yesterday — for obvious reasons. It went without saying that Kershaw, who left his scheduled opening-day start after three innings, had to have had a compelling reason to call it a day after throwing just 39 pitches.
Wearing street clothes inside the visitors’ clubhouse Friday at Petco Park, Kerhsaw had no problem elaborating on his miserable opening day.
“Warming up was the worst part,” he said. “I was looking around for where I was going to be able to throw up on the field the whole time.”
Kershaw wanted to go back to his hotel room after exiting the game but said he “couldn’t really get up” after lying down in the tunnel leading to the clubhouse. After eventually getting up Kershaw said he threw up, showered, went home and “last night was not very much fun either.”
“I don’t really get sick,” he said. “I can’t even remember the last time I threw up. It was not a fun experience.”
The big question is, can Kershaw make his next scheduled start next Tuesday for the Dodgers’ home opener?
“We’ll see,” he said. “I’m pretty sure.”
Most pitchers have a bullpen session two or three days before their upcoming start (usually two), which for Kershaw would be Sunday. Mattingly said that’s not the primary concern for the left-hander at this point.
“He just needs to feel better,” the manager said. “He’s ready. We’ve got to get him feeling better where he’s hydrated and all that. He’ll be fine.”
Andre Ethier recently had a quick bout with a similar stomach ailment. (So did this writer.) So there could well be something going around the Dodgers’ clubhouse, and it seems to be a short-term ailment. That’s good news for the team and the fans who paid good money to see Kershaw start the first game of the season at Dodger Stadium.
The start was Kershaw’s shortest since lasting a career-low 1.1 innings against Milwaukee on May 4, 2010.