PHOENIX — The 2019 baseball season was still fresh when Clayton Kershaw arrived in the Pacific Northwest to conduct some research. His season had been, by most measures, a tremendous success: He made 28 starts, his most in four years, and pitched to a 3.03 ERA despite a juiced ball. He received an All-Star nod and Cy Young votes while the Dodgers surged to 106 wins.



But the end came quick on October 9 at Dodger Stadium, and in the weeks that followed, Kershaw wanted more. While other players rested, he set out to learn even more about the very thing he has dedicated his life to perfecting: pitching.



Brandon McDaniel, the Dodgers’ director of athletic development and performance science, accompanied Kershaw up north. One day, weeks before Thanksgiving, they headed inside Driveline Baseball’s Seattle-area headquarters for a pitching assessment. The next morning, they returned for an evaluation, then left town.



Kershaw was not the only Dodger...