Josh Rawitch asked Ned Colletti this question that I propounded:

Ned,

I understand that young players need to to mature and all that, but when you have a talent like Clayton Kershaw how can you hold him back? Two questions: (1) Do you think he’ll make the team out of Spring Training (possibly as a reliever to keep his innings down until later in the saeson); and (2) If he dosen’t make the team, when do you anticipate calling him up?

I think you have done an excellent job - Keep it up!

By mark@ladodgertalk.com

The Clayton Kershaw situation is one that we spent a lot of time considering this spring.  Without question, he pitched very well the second half of Spring Training.  In his case, we took a look at how many professional innings he had pitched.  We researched other pitchers who were high school drafts like Clayton and how many innings they pitched professionally before they made their Major League debut.  In the case of everyone we looked at, they had pitched anywhere between 75 and 200 more professional innings before they pitched in the big leagues.  That was one consideration.  Another consideration is that he pitched 122 innings last season and the normal progression would be for him to throw 155-165 innings this year.  We didn’t want to put him in a position where he came to the big leagues early in the season and began accumulating innings at a pace that would find him at 150-160 Major League innings in mid-August (the stress of 150-160 Major League innings far exceeds the stress of 150-160 innings in the minor leagues).

So by starting him in the minor leagues we can continue to refine him (while he is on his way to be a very accomplished pitcher, he still has a couple things to iron out) and also monitor his innings. It is easier to monitor innings and shorten a start or two in the mnor leagues than it is in the Major Leagues. If he continues to progress, it won’t be long before he is with the big league club.   

For the rest of the questions, CLICK HERE

It’s just like last year. Grady Little is at the helm and the ship is sinking. I will just pretend it didn’t happen. I won’t talk about it. La, La, La [fingers in ears, eyes closed] La, La, La, La.
So….

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT:

LAS VEGAS lost 11-4.

Lowlights:

• John Lindsey was 2-4 and is hitting .393
• Terry Tiffee was 2-3 and is now hitting .571
• Kevin Howard was 2-2 and is hitting .429
• Johnson and Miller were pounded for 11 runs
• Move along, there’s nothing to see here folks.
• BOXSCORE

The Jacksonville Suns won 4-1.

Highlights:

• McDonald started and pitched 4 innings of 1 hit ball - like Kershaw, they are limiting his innings early
• Sierra got the win - he’s now 3-0
• Brazoban pitched another scoreless inning
• Lucas May hit his 1st HR
• DeJesue was 3-5 and is hitting a cool .381
• BOXSCORE

The Inland Empire 66′ers lost 4-2.

Lowlights:

• Santana was 3-4
• Nothing else worth talking about
• BOXSCORE

The Great Lakes Loons were mugged 9-0

Lowlights:

• The Loons showed up and it was downhill after that
• BOXSCORE