Imaginary Diamond

Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Clayton Kershaw had a rough audition for a major league call-up on Monday, allowing five runs on five hits in 3.1 innings at Double-A Jacksonville. A quality outing, and Dodgers brass wouldn’t have been able to resist calling Kershaw up for a start on Saturday. Instead, he’ll stay in Jacksonville, continue to work on his change-up and await a call sometime by the end of the month.

In fantasy, this may end up being a good thing in the long run. Kershaw was told to throw more change-ups in the start and didn’t have a good feel for the pitch, according to the Dodgers official site. So, rather than promote Kershaw, Torre has indicated that either Hong-Chih Kuo or Chan Ho Park will start Saturday, says MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick.

Kershaw has not one, but two plus-plus pitches. One of them, a curveball, is by most accounts, a mind-blowing pitch that earned the nickname Public Enemy No. 1 in spring training. He complements that with a fastball that climbs as high as 97 mph on the radar gun. And as Yahoo! Sports Jeff Passan points out, this is also a humble kid who believes in himself and his pitches.

It’s a good combination for success.

Monday’s start was a road block, but look on the bright side. Kershaw did get a quick simulation of big-league pressure and a little taste of failure. He’ll enter another evaluation period and likely be called up within the next two weeks. The Dodgers are regulating his innings by something they call “the Kershaw Decree” - a limit of 25 innings per month - with plans of a midseason call-up.

If you’re in need of upside with your starting pitching, Kershaw is a great bet to get off to a fast start. Stash him on your bench in fantasy leagues and stay tuned for official announcements.

More thoughts …
The Hardball Times shows a quick clip of Kershaw’s curveball and wonders if he’s as good as the hype.

Clayton Kershaw garnered the most votes on Pojo Fantasy Baseball’s Prospect Poll.

Crooked Pitch has its eye on Kershaw and Cincinnati’s Jay Bruce.

Dustin Hockensmith is editor of ImaginaryDiamond.com. He can be contacted at dhockensmith[at]fantasysports101.net.