We enjoy ribbing Dodgers manager Don Mattingly here for concealing even the most commonplace details of his game-to-game bullpen strategy. (Is Bronson Arroyo available tonight? Who knows?) This time, we get it.
Mattingly wouldn’t say whether or not Clayton Kershaw would be available out of the bullpen for Game 5 of the National League Division Series, two days after Kershaw pitched the Dodgers to a season-extending victory in Game 4.
“He’s here,” Mattingly said of Kershaw. “I’m not sure what we’ll do with him.”
Launch him out of a cannon?
“We’ve talked to him” about pitching today, Mattingly conceded. “Obviously the hesitation is health. He just pitched on short rest (Tuesday in Game 4) and he’s had a day off. He’s, I don’t know, he’s pretty good, and I think that’s always your main concenr with guys is health and what’s right and what’s fair. Even though the moment is huge, what is right? And I think that’s where you always have to get to.”
A.J. Ellis, Kershaw’s best friend on the team and his catcher in Game 4, was maybe half-joking when expressed surprise that Kershaw didn’t insist on starting Game 5.
“This is how much the guy loves pitching and loves competing,” Ellis said. “But they’re going to take care of him. They’re going to make sure it’s the right spot if they do need to use them. But it’s Game 5, it’s all hands on deck. Everybody needs to be spiked up and ready to go because there’s no excuses and there’s no — you can’t have any regrets and what-ifs. We’ve just got to be ready to go.”
Kershaw has thrown 13 ⅔ innings in the series, allowing seven hits, four runs, and striking out 19 batters.