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Rookies to Look For: Clayton Kershaw
Christopher Solberg, Editor
5/30/2008
Ever
since he was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers
with the seventh overall pick in the 2006 draft, he has been one of the
team’s
top prospects. This
power-pitching lefty
has great stuff and he displayed it as he shot through the Dodgers’
minor
league system. Even
though he’s still
only 20 years old, the fact that he’s struck out more than a batter per
inning
at each stop in the minors says something.
Kershaw
displays a very good fastball for being a
lefty. It comes in
with good movement at
about 92-96 mph. He
also displays a very
good curveball that he many times uses as a strikeout pitch. For a third pitch, he’s
learning a changeup. It’s
still a work in progress, but he’s
learning it fast. He
tends to let his
leading arm fly open too fast, leading to some wildness, but it’s not
uncommon
amongst young pitchers.
Baseball
America did an interview with him in 2007.
The young lefty seems to have a pretty decent head
on him.
If
Kershaw refines his changeup and lowers his walk
rate with some improvement in his mechanics, he could be a very good #2
starter
for the Dodgers, possibly even a staff ace.
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