LOS ANGELES — Rick Honeycutt has seen every pitch in the career of Clayton Kershaw, so when the Los Angeles Dodgers lefthander showed up for his bullpen session at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, Honeycutt knew something was wrong.
“You all right?” the Dodgers pitching coach asked Kershaw.
Only the day before, Honeycutt and manager Dave Roberts had stunned Kershaw by telling him he was not getting the ball for Game 1 of the National League Division Series against Atlanta. Over the past eight years, Kershaw had been available to start the first game of the season and the first game of a postseason series 16 times.