It was written with such permanence that the idea of change felt unimaginable, perhaps even naive.
But, when Dave Roberts stood in the middle of his regular afternoon media scrum on what should have been a normal Friday, news broke that would quickly erase Opening Day’s reliable routine.
It was, “an arm sort of thing,” as Roberts called. Kershaw threw a bullpen and the bullpen threw right back at him. The Dodgers’ superstar felt wrong.
In Kershaw’s wrong feelings the Dodgers were left to do the right thing. They scratched Kershaw from making his regularly scheduled Opening Day start, leaving Ryu in his place.