Los Angeles Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw’s status is a blessing in disguise

The Los Angeles Dodgers officially announced that Clayton Kershaw will not start Opening Day, which is a blessing in disguise for the team.

Death, taxes and Clayton Kershaw starting Opening Day for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kershaw has been the Dodgers’ Opening Day starter every season since 2011, going 7-1 in his eight starts with the first loss coming last season against the San Francisco Giants.

Kershaw has had some memorable moments on Opening Day. No team has scored more than three runs on Opening Day in Kershaw’s run; Kershaw has a 1.05 ERA on Opening Day.

His most memorable Opening Day moment came in 2013. Not only did Kershaw throw a nine-inning shutout, but he slugged a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. The team won 4-0 that day.

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This run is coming to an end as Dave Roberts and the Los Angeles Dodgers have officially ruled Clayton Kershaw out as the Opening Day starter.

The obvious front-runner to start on Opening Day is Walker Buehler, who outpitched Kershaw towards the end of 2018. However, Buehler himself has had a slow spring and Roberts has not yet named a replacement. It wouldn’t be entirely surprising to see the thriving Hyun-Jin Ryu or veteran Rich Hill start Opening Day.

Kershaw missing Opening Day is a blessing in disguise for the team, though. It is unlikely that the team uses him in the first turn of the rotation as an extra two or three days really isn’t going to have a huge impact on his rest.

Kershaw probably will be on the injured list to start the year, which is where the blessing in disguise comes in. It is no secret that the Los Angeles Dodgers are absolutely loaded in starting pitching and Kershaw missing time opens the door for the Dodgers to gameplan the rest of 2019.

The fifth spot in the rotation is now open for both Ross Stripling and Julio Urias. What the team does with that fifth spot is going to be telling for the entire year.

Stripling was an all-star last season and was one of the best pitchers in the first half of the season. However, Stripling, who has spent more time in the bullpen than starting, flamed out late in the season and was not on the postseason roster.

So, despite his early success, the Dodgers might be interested in keeping Stripling in the bullpen. This is something we are going to learn with Kershaw out.

The other option for the open fifth spot is Julio Urias, who has thrived in Spring Training and put the Dodgers in a hard situation. Urias is on an innings limit this season and the Dodgers would much rather have him available in October rather than April.

However, restricting him might get him off his routine and might end up hurting his production down the stretch. As we saw with Stripling, if Urias gets used to being in a limited role he might flare out once that workload finally picks up.

Urias has the potential to be an ace and arguably has Cy Young potential. He is still two years younger than Walker Buehler and is the future of the organization alongside Buehler.

The Los Angeles Dodgers might not find the definitive answer in the short time that Kershaw is out but the team (and the fans) are certainly going to at least learn something about the backend of this rotation and how to handle it.