GLENDALE, Ariz. — While the Dodgers still aren’t confirming their opening-day starting pitcher, Clayton Kershaw appears to be in line for the assignment.
A day after manager Joe Torre said the team’s regular-season rotation plans would become obvious, the soon-to-be 22-year-old Kershaw was being pointed toward the April 5 season opener at Pittsburgh.
Torre did announce his spring rotation plans Thursday, saying Vicente Padilla will start the spring opener March 5 against the White Sox. Left-hander Eric Stults, one of a bevy of candidates for the No. 5 spot in the rotation, will pitch in the second spring game.
The clue to the regular-season rotation takes shape after that.
Kershaw will pitch the third spring game, ahead of fellow opening-day starting candidates Chad Billingsley and Hiroki Kuroda.
Despite being so young, Kershaw is the candidate that has done the most to earn the honor. He had the fifth-best ERA in the National League last season at 2.79 in 30 starts and 171 innings. His 1.83 ERA at home led the majors.
Billingsley had been the team’s No. 1 starter in waiting, but he stumbled to a 3-7 record and a 5.20 ERA in the second half last season after being named an NL all-star.
Kuroda started the season opener last season at San Diego, but three separate injuries in 2009 cost him at least 11 starts.
Brother’s shot stings McGwire
JUPITER, Fla. — Mark McGwire said he’s saddened his estranged brother wrote a book that chronicles their use of performance-enhancing drugs and reiterated his claim that he only took them to heal from injuries.
McGwire said he’s so upset with his brother, Jay McGwire, that he doesn’t believe reconciliation is possible.
“I don’t plan on ever seeing him again,” said McGwire, the new hitting coach for the Cardinals.
Jay McGwire’s book, “Mark and Me: Mark McGwire and the Truth Behind Baseball’s Worst-Kept Secret,” is scheduled for publication Monday.
Hamilton resting shoulder
SURPRISE, Ariz. — Rangers center fielder Josh Hamilton has missed regular drills at spring training because of a sore left shoulder.
Hamilton had X-rays on his shoulder and the results were negative. He is day to day.
• The Rangers voided the contract of infielder Khalil Greene, who missed 46 games last season with the Cardinals in two stints on the disabled list because of social anxiety.
Footnotes.
The future spring training home of the Red Sox, scheduled to open in 2012 in Fort Myers, Fla., will have a replica Green Monster and will duplicate the dimensions of Fenway Park.
• Former Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi has been hired by ESPN as an analyst for “Baseball Tonight.”
