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NL DIVISION SERIES: DODGERS VS METS

October 8, 2015

Clayton Kershaw

Los Angeles, California - Workout Day

Q. Going into the third straight postseason experience for you guys, what have you taken out of the last two years that you think will help benefit you as you take the ball tomorrow?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: I don't know. We'll find out tomorrow. Yeah, I don't know. Losing's never fun, so try to win, I guess, is probably the best bet. But other than that, I don't really know. I don't know if experience matters a whole lot. We have a lot of guys with a lot of experience.

Q. What was it like when you faced Cespedes midway through from when you faced them earlier this year?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: Yeah, it's a completely different lineup, not just Cespedes. You go back and look at the lineup I faced before the trade deadline, and I don't know if there's going to be more than two or three guys that are the same. Parnell was out at the time. Wright was out at the time. So there's a lot of guys that I'll be seeing for the first time this season at least. So, yeah, definitely a completely different team. Obviously, a lot better than what we faced in July.

Q. I know that the goal is always to get back here. For you personally, the journey back to October and what it means to you and what you would like to do there, how has that sort of been part of your season preparation-wise and getting close to getting back?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: That's a deep question (smiling). I don't know. I mean, the goal is always to make it to the playoffs, regardless of where you ended up last year, and the goal is always to win the whole thing every year. Every team says that in Spring Training.

So the way I look at it, 29 teams fail every year, and one team succeeds. So no different for us. No different for me personally. It's the same thing this year.

Q. Are you fuelled at all by what happened the last couple years?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: I think I'll have enough. I don't need to be fuelled by too much. I definitely remember, but it's a new team, new season, and hopefully for me a new outcome.

Q. You had mentioned a new teammate, and Gonzalez was just outside talking about how the team is different in terms of the leadership standpoint, the length of the lineup, the amount of experience that you guys have. Do you share that same sentiment that you can't worry about what's happened in the past because it's completely different guys?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: I was actually talking about the Mets, but, yeah. I mean, our team is different too, obviously. We replaced a lot of guys that we had last year with some new guys, obviously. Both good and bad. I think we lost a lot of talent last year and we've gotten back here maybe with a better team, just a little bit different. So see if it pays off. But obviously I like our guys and I like our chances.

Q. You go way back with Brett Anderson. What do you see as his biggest strength? He seems like a quiet man.
CLAYTON KERSHAW: Yeah, to you guys. Brett's great. He really hasn't changed a whole lot for me since we were 16. He plight have had better overall stuff when he was 17 and 18, just on injuries and stuff, but he's learned how to pitch a lot better. His sinker is something that's really separated him. He didn't have that when he was younger, obviously. As long as I've known him, he's always been able to spin two different breaking balls, a curveball and a slider. He's been able to do that at will. So for him, it was always a matter of health. I knew that coming in. He was going to make 30 starts for us and have a good year, he and he did.

Q. How much have you seen of Jacob deGrom, and what about him impressed you?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: Yeah, I got to talk to him a little bit in Cincinnati this year, and obviously watching him pitch over the last couple seasons. It's just an explosive fastball. I think that's where you start with his fastball. Just the carry and the ride that it has on it, the ball that looks like it's at your shins or ankles seems like he gets a lot of called strikes there. The guys think the ball is down. Same thing with the ball up, you think you can catch up to it and guys swing through it a lot for strikeouts.

So those two things combined with the commands, able to hit the outside, inside corner, this whole season pretty well. Then his off-speed pitches too, have gotten -- I think have gotten better from last year. So we definitely have a challenge. This whole series, the three, four guys they're throwing at us are pretty solid.

Q. So many ballplayers are judged by what they do in the postseason. Is that fair? Is that how you judge yourself?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: I don't really judge myself, I guess. I don't really judge other players. That's for you guys to do. I don't really care, honestly. But my goal is to win just for the teammates and the guys in our room. That's the most important thing to me. So you look at guys' success, guys' careers. I think you have to take everything into account, but, yeah, at the end of the day you want to win the World Series. That's what we play for.

Q. You have a pretty meticulous pregame regimen. How is pitching like a playoff game, or specifically Game 1, how does that change your pregame routine?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: Well, it's an awkward time. 6:45, I've got to move everything up 25 minutes (smiling). Other than that, not too much. I was kind of thankful that it's pretty much a night game, same type situation, so pretty much the same routine for me. But nothing really changes other than Friday, LA traffic, maybe give myself a few minutes extra. But other than that, nothing too different.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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