For the fifth straight year, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is an All-Star and he doesn't care how he got to the Midsummer Classic.
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Kershaw wasn't announced as one of the pitchers on the National League staff last Monday and he also lost out on the final vote by fans, but he will enter the game as a replacement.
The left-hander will fill in for Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer, who is unavailable to pitch due to starting Sunday's first-half finale against the Baltimore Orioles. Reds ace Johnny Cueto was also ahead of Kershaw in the fan vote, but he too pitched Sunday.
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The reigning NL MVP and Cy Young Award winner has no qualms about the way he got to the 86th annual All-Star Game, which emanates from the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Tuesday.
"I have no pride in how I get there," Kershaw said Sunday, according to ESPN. "You get to the go to All-Star Game, so I don't care if I was the bat boy, as long as I get to make it there."
Kershaw's slow start nearly cost him a selection as the three-time Cy Young Award winner notched just one win in his first seven outings of the season and his ERA skyrocketed to 4.26.
Kershaw also lost three consecutive starts for the first time in his career last month, but he turned his game around this month, yielding one earned run in 16 innings while striking out 20 batters and walking two.
The southpaw is one of five players representing the Dodgers at the All-Star Game and he doesn't care how he got there.
"You look back on all this and nobody will remember that you're the replacement of the replacement that didn't win the fan vote," Kershaw said. "You get to go and spend time, enjoy it and they treat your family great and it's a great time for everybody."
The Dodgers closed out the first half Sunday with a 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers and are now 51-39, with a healthy 4.5-game lead over the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants for first place in the National League West.
Kershaw, 27, leads the MLB with 160 strikeouts and is 6-6 with a 2.85 ERA on the campaign.
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