	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: DODGERS VS BREWERS

October 11, 2018

Clayton Kershaw

Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Workout Day

Q. Clayton, as someone who takes such pride in taking the ball every fifth day, what do you think of bull-penning?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: If it works, it's great. You know, I think -- I'm kind of a traditionalist when it comes to baseball. But when it comes down to the postseason, you just have to win games. These guys obviously had some success in the first series against the Rockies doing it, and they have a great bullpen. So there's no getting around that. It's probably tough to sustain for a full season. They've had a lot of guys make 30- or 25-plus starts or something like that. So it's not really sustainable for a full season, but definitely makes sense for a postseason.

Q. As a traditionalist, as a starter, what does that mean to you?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: Yeah, I like pitching every fifth day. I like pitching deep into the games. Yeah, you know, ideally you'd like to finish them. That doesn't happen very much, but as a starting pitcher, you kind of take pride in innings and being out there. So I think that's kind of what I meant.

Q. Clayton, Christian Yelich of the Brewers has been one of the hottest players in the league basically since over the second half of this season, and his numbers against you so far in his career have been pretty strong. What are the unique challenges he presents at the plate?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: Yeah. Really good hitter. Obviously he's had a tremendous second half. You know, I don't know -- who knows if this is what he could have done in Miami, just in a new ballpark, you know. But he's definitely swinging the bat very well. And I haven't -- honestly, I'm about to go look right now, so I don't know what he's changed since the last time I faced him or anything like that. But yeah, he's gotten some hits off me for sure, and try not to let him do that tomorrow.

Q. You were here during the heyday of Matt Kemp and now you saw him return this year. How do you explain what he was able to do this year?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: Well, he's a very talented hitter, you know, regardless of anything else going on. He's always been able to hit the baseball. So him coming back, I think the only difference really I see is that I think he's just -- it's hard to explain. I think he's just really bought in to what we're doing here, and I think leaving and then coming back maybe helps him realize how good of an organization it is and some of the things that we're trying to accomplish.

You know, he said it himself, getting back to the postseason and not playing on winning teams and things like that can be taxing when you're used to doing that in the postseason and going. As far as a player, offensively I don't see a whole lot of difference. I remember him in 2011 when he very easily could have been the MVP, and that swing is definitely still in there.

Q. Clayton, the Brewers' lineup is very similarly constructed to the way the Dodgers is. There's a lot of different pieces that can mix and match. Does it make tough to prepare when you have so many options you might see, or are you more focused on what you do each time?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: Yeah, you try to prepare for eight guys, and then obviously Gio who can swing the bat a little bit. But you know, I think the outfield is obviously set. Kratz looks like he's swinging the bat well, probably will catch, and it's really just a matter of three infielders for two positions. So it's not that hard to figure out what they're going to do. Maybe have to prepare for one more guy, but I've got a pretty good idea of what I'll see tomorrow.

Q. Clayton, what about the challenge that all their right-handers will present tomorrow? A lot of them have really, really good numbers against lefties especially this season. What kind of challenge will that present?
CLAYTON KERSHAW: Yeah, I don't think it's any different than any team that has a lot of right-handed batters. It's very similar to the Braves we just faced. They have three lefties they can play, Yelich, obviously and Moustakas and Shaw. I don't know if all three will play tomorrow with Schoop being able to play as well.

Anytime that I've pitched in my career, it's always been a lot of righties. So you're right, they do have a lot of talented righties. So it's just like any good team, but just try and get them out.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297