Flame-throwing prodigy has a bright future

In just a year and a half of professional baseball, not many people can intimidate Clayton Kershaw.

The Great Lakes Loons pitcher stands 6-3 and casts an imposing figure on the mound, especially with a 95-97 mph fastball tucked into his arsenal.

But when he met Great Lakes manager Lance Parrish in spring training, he’d finally met his match.

Parrish was conducting drills at the Los Angeles Dodgers spring training facility in Florida, and Kershaw went up to the former Detroit Tigers catcher to introduce himself.

“He’s got a pretty hefty handshake and big arms, so it was pretty intimidating for sure,” Kershaw said.

Besides Parrish’s fierce grip, Kershaw hasn’t had much to worry about with the Loons this season.

Baseball Prospectus’ top-rated prospect in the Dodgers farm system and No. 7 overall draft pick in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft mostly has had his way with the hitters in the (low) Class-A Midwest League.

“We usually worry about two to three hitters [in an opposing lineup],” Great Lakes pitching coach Glenn Dishman said. “Everybody else he really just dominates. Those hitters, he’ll give them a flip-up curveball, just because he’s working on it, or changeups because he needs to work on a couple of them. Most of them he just throws the ball right on by.”

Kershaw boasts a repertoire that includes what Dishman described as a “hard and heavy” fastball, a curveball that has such tight spin it sometimes fools the minor league umpires and a changeup he can throw for strikes.

Dishman first got a look at the soft-spoken Texan when they met in spring training this past year, and said everyone in the Dodgers organization raved about Kershaw’s fastball velocity.

Kershaw’s numbers fill in what those around the pitcher leave out when describing his talent. He sports a 7-4 record with a 2.78 ERA in 17 starts this season, hitters are batting just .198 against him and he’s recorded 120 strikeouts in 87 and 1/3 innings.

“He knows he’s the man, but he’s not one of those guys that will stare down hitters,” Dishman said. “You just know he’s coming after you, and he’s professional.”
Despite the raving reviews, Kershaw has seen his fair share of struggles in the early parts of the second leg of the season.

The 19-year-old has pretty much been lights out all season.

Against Burlington in late-July, he surrendered all five of his runs in the first inning. He faced Quad Cities in his next outing and gave up the Swing’s lone four runs in the game in the fifth inning.

Dishman chalks up Kershaw’s recent lapses to inexperience, and he’s working with the young pitcher to mold him into a more consistent pitcher.

“He’ll go out and throw three or four innings where hitters have absolutely zero chance because he spots his fastball, throws his curveball for strikes and throws his changeup for strikes, but he can’t do that for seven innings straight,” Dishman said.
Dishman, who pitched for three seasons in the majors, tries to slow things down for Kershaw when he goes out to the mound; otherwise the ultra-competitive pitcher tends to speed the game up a little too fast.

“I get pretty into the game,” Kershaw said. “I like winning. I don’t like to lose at all.”

Dishman added Kershaw needs to improve on his fastball command and his trust in his changeup, but that in two years, he’ll probably be a September call-up to a Major League roster.

“If he can come out and throw 78 percent fastballs for strikes, that kid is going to be unbelievable,” Dishman said.

Kershaw, who Great Lakes’ website describes as a prodigy, would like to think his star status on the mound translates to an easy going guy off the field.

“I like to go with the flow,” Kershaw said. “I hang out with everybody, but I don’t really know. I would like to think that, but I don’t really know.”

His teammates might have to have the final say on whether or not Kershaw is in fact a laid-back individual, but his pitching coach has seen enough to offer a glowing endorsement.

“Everybody loves the kid,” Dishman said. “You couldn’t ask for a better kid. If I had a son, that’s the way I’d want him to act. He’s just a really good kid.”