Dodgers right-hander Yu Darvish is skilled as a southpaw as well - Los Angeles Times
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Dodgers right-hander Yu Darvish is skilled as a southpaw as well

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Two days after his Dodgers debut, Yu Darvish ventured outside to throw on Sunday afternoon. There was only one catch: He was pitching with his left hand.

The Dodgers acquired Darvish, in part, to serve as a right-handed complement to the team’s left-handed starting trio of Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill and Alex Wood. But Darvish uses his ambidexterity as part of his training regimen.

“He’s got a three-pitch mix,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He can really do some things with the baseball, left-handed. I heard some rumblings about that. I’ve got to keep my eye on for that.”

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Hideaki Sato, Darvish’s interpreter, said Darvish often throws from the left side in between starts. Asked why, Sato smiled and said, “You have to ask him.”

Darvish will make his second start — pitching as a right-hander — for the Dodgers on Thursday against the Diamondbacks.

WOOD ENCOURAGED WITH BULLPEN SESSION

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After admitting to fatigue in his last start, Alex Wood made a slight mechanical adjustment during his bullpen session on Sunday afternoon, tweaking the alignment of his hips as he delivered the baseball. The shift caused the life to return to his fastball, he said. He described his stuff as “filthy” during the session.

“I opened my hips back up today, and it was really, really good,” Wood said.

Wood logged six innings of one-run baseball last week against Atlanta. He plans to make his start Wednesday in Arizona.

GRANDAL RESTS AFTER BACK SPASMS

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Yasmani Grandal received a day off in Sunday’s series finale as he recovered from an onset of back spasms that caused him to leave the previous day’s game early.

Roberts indicated he expected Grandal to be able to start behind the plate on Tuesday in Arizona.

“There’s a little residual soreness, but he’s available to pinch-hit tonight,” Roberts said.

STILL NO GONZALEZ: Roberts does not expect Adrian Gonzalez, who is playing on a rehab assignment with triple-A Oklahoma City, to rejoin the Dodgers this week.

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