NL DIVISION SERIES: PADRES VS DODGERS

October 11, 2022

Clayton Kershaw

Dodger Stadium

Los Angeles Dodgers

Pregame 1 Press Conference

Q. It's been a lot of these for you. How do you feel about yourself or what does it mean to you to be back in another postseason as latter in your career? Is it extra special or do you cherish it more now?

CLAYTON KERSHAW: I don't know. I cherish winning, so I hope we win.

More than anything, being with this organization is obviously special. To get to be in the postseason for a lot of years. One of the main reasons I wanted to come back was to get this opportunity. So it's exciting. I know the guys are ready.

It's a long time to wait, five days in between, but I think we're ready to go.

Q. How are you feeling about the team heading into the NLDS?

CLAYTON KERSHAW: Pretty good. Pretty good, yeah.

Q. Clayton, I know you worry about your team and are focused on things that you guys do, but you've got to kind of peek at the team that you're going to play next and prepare for two different lineups. What were your first thoughts when you saw the Padres made it out of New York instead of facing the Mets?

CLAYTON KERSHAW: Yeah, I didn't prepare for two teams. I just waited until the game ended. (Smiling.)

I think it was a good series. Obviously, the Mets were a great team. It just shows what a good team the Padres are more than anything.

I think they obviously have some horses in their starting rotation. They've got a lot of guys that can throw the ball well. They had some guys that maybe struggled during the regular season really come through for them that last series.

So if they've got some guys swinging the bats at the bottom of the lineup, they're a good team.

Q. Obviously, for a long time you had the responsibility of being the Game 1 starter. Julio is going to be that guy this time for the first time. What about him kind of gives you the confidence that he is going to be able to perform that role?

CLAYTON KERSHAW: Just his last, however long, two and a half years. I think he has dominated the league for the last two years.

Most wins. Maybe the lowest E.R.A. I don't know for sure, but he has been unbelievable. The E.R.A. champion this year. Taking the ball every time we have needed him and come up big for us in big situations.

I can't say enough good things about Juli. I think we feel good about him going into it. I'm excited for him to get this ball tonight.

Q. Clayton, just a year ago you weren't available. This time around you pitched really well all year, stayed relatively healthy except for that one month.

CLAYTON KERSHAW: Relatively.

Q. What kind of adjustments did you have to make to make sure you were pitching well and to be available for October?

CLAYTON KERSHAW: I don't know if there were adjustments or not. I just think when I got hurt, it was better timing this year. (Laughing.) I had a month, I was and able to come back in September and get enough starts to come back.

I don't know. If you could figure out the injury thing, if anybody could, let me know. I don't enjoy doing it and being hurt, but this year just kind of worked out timing-wise.

Obviously, last year it was disappointing. You want to be a part of it. You want to be in it regardless good or bad. You would rather be in it than not in it. You want to be a part of it. That's why we do this. That's what makes it fun.

Q. Dave spoke about the difficulty of the conversation he had with Craig. Could you just speak about his professionalism and the way you've seen him be composed throughout this announcement today?

CLAYTON KERSHAW: I'm sure he handled it great. I think Craig has been around a long time, understands it. He is maybe one of the best closers, top three or four closers ever.

We all know what he has done in this game, and it doesn't take anything away from that. It's just at this very moment he didn't make this roster. It doesn't mean we're not going to use him later, or whatever it may be. I'm sure he handled it great. That's just the guy Craig is.

Q. On a little lighter note, the Dodgers announced that Walker Buehler will be throwing first pitch for your game tomorrow. Have you kind of thought about that? It's a little Twilight Zony?

CLAYTON KERSHAW: Walker needs the center of attention at all cost, so he found it. (Laughing.) I think he is doing the broadcast too. I think he is doing the Fox broadcast. He will be out there.

No, Walker has obviously been a really huge part of this team, and we're going to miss him at this time. He has obviously pitched some huge games for us. Won a lot of huge postseason games for us, so we're going to miss him. I think it's great that we're letting him be a part of it, and I hope he gets the standing ovation he deserves.

Q. This is usually a time of year when teams like to line everything up, but I think you mentioned last year you weren't available. Craig is not available for this round. Kenley a couple of times, some questions. How do you guys succeed with all that uncertainty?

CLAYTON KERSHAW: I don't think it's uncertainty for us. I think we just do the jobs that we're supposed to do. We've got a lot of guys that can do a lot of jobs really well. Just continue to do that.

I think it is hard with the five days off to maybe try to navigate. You want everything to be perfect, right? You've got five days to make sure everything is perfect. It's just not going to happen.

It's October. Things are dinged up. Everybody has something going on. Your pitches aren't going to be perfect. Whatever it is, you just have to go out there and compete. Whoever competes the best is going to win this series along with every other one.

Just try to do that. As cliche as it is, just try to control what you can control. I think that's what everybody says at this time anyway.

Q. Can you speak to your relationship with Darvish and maybe how that's evolved since his time here?

CLAYTON KERSHAW: I consider Yu a friend. I've got to know him over the years. We used to play catch in the offseason some in Dallas.

Obviously, here we've got to play together for half a season. I have a lot of respect for him. I have a lot of respect for the way he pitches, the way he goes about it. Obviously, a tough challenge for us.

Q. Things did not end well in 2017 here obviously. How hard did that hit him? How do you think he handled that?

CLAYTON KERSHAW: It hit us all hard. Yeah, it hit us all hard. I don't think he was any different. It's no fun to lose and especially a World Series and especially in Game 7. I think it probably hit us all pretty hard.

Q. What's this like to share with your kids, most specifically Charlie as he is a little bit older now, 5, and then obviously pretty into baseball, but getting to see Dad pitch in the postseason?

CLAYTON KERSHAW: They were asking me what the playoff bracket was. I was printing the playoff brackets out. They were filling them out, Well, we want the Dodgers to play this team in the World. I was like, Guys, we have to win first. We have to win the games first.

No, it's a blast. I think they're getting into it. Yeah, Charlie especially trying to figure out what baseball is and being a part of it. It is really cool.

Q. Who did they want you guys to play, and are you excited, or are you actually feeling extra amped up to play the Padres?

CLAYTON KERSHAW: I'm just trying to win. Just trying to win the next game and this game. That's the only two I'm worried about right now.

Q. How about the kids? Who did they want?

CLAYTON KERSHAW: They like the uniform of the Mariners. They thought they looked cool and all this stuff, so I don't know. (Laughing.)

Thanks.