Dodgers notes: Opening day rotation, Peralta on WBC experience, Prospects

Clayton Kershaw has started nine times on opening day in his career, though just once in the last four years.

Despite being limited to just 22 starts last season due to SI joint inflammation and lower back pain, Kershaw continued to impress in his age-34 season. He posted numbers reminiscent of his Cy Young seasons from a decade ago, propelling him back into the conversation as one of the most elite pitchers in the game. Health-wise, Kershaw has stated that he feels ready to go for the 2023 season if it were to start today, as Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Kershaw is slated to start in Sunday’s exhibition matchup against the Angels, and if he were to do so, it would set him up for a start the second game of the regular season, on four days of rest. The Dodgers are bolstering one of the heavier arsenals when it comes to their starting rotation, and they can call on a number of guys to headline the rotation. The most likely candidate of that group, as Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register notes, is the 26-year old lefty Julio Urías, who finished third in the Cy Young Award voting just a year ago.

From Plunkett:

“I’m assuming Julio is gonna get to do it. I mean, he deserves it. I’m happy for Julio. It’s a special thing to get to do. I think it should be whoever pitched the best the year before, and he did that. So he deserves it.”

Links

• As the World Baseball Classic nears its conclusion until 2026, new Dodger David Peralta helped lead a Team Venezuela squad that made it as far as the Quarter Finals. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic details Peralta’s experience throughout the Classic, and the joy he felt being a part of such a series.
  
  The Dodgers over the past decade have relied on cultivating a strong farm system to set them up for future success. Jim Callis of MLB.com takes a look at who the Dodgers have lined up within the Top 100 Prospects List and what impact they can potentially have on the big league roster.