Kershaw: Ellis trade ‘tremendous subtraction’

LOS ANGELES — Because life goes on, Clayton Kershaw threw a 60-pitch bullpen session on Friday and said he would face hitters next week. He also spoke for the first time about the trade of good friend and batterymate A.J. Ellis.

“It’s been a rough couple of days,” said Kershaw. “Just a really abrupt ending. A.J. kind of described it as a car wreck. This might have been our last season together, but we’ve been saying that for four years and it keeps working out. We realize what a huge blessing it was to have that time. But you see each other every day all season and you take it for granted a little bit.”

Ellis was dealt with Minor League pitcher Tommy Bergjans and cash to the Phillies for veteran catcher Carlos Ruiz, who started Friday night and will back up Yasmani Grandal. Management viewed the 37-year-old Ruiz as an incremental offensive upgrade over the 35-year-old Ellis against left-handed pitching, against which the Dodgers have struggled all year.

Kershaw said he had no issue with Ruiz and he wouldn’t address the …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com