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Tyler Anderson arrives as a familiar face to Dodgers

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GLENDALE, Ariz. — Night games at Dodger Stadium start at 7:10 p.m. They’ve started at 7:10 for a long time.

New Dodgers left-hander Tyler Anderson is very well aware of this.

“I’ve heard,” said Anderson who signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Dodgers this week. “I haven’t forgot about that.”

He wasn’t likely to. Anderson was a second-year big leaguer, making a start against the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw in April 2017 when he committed the “most disrespectful” act in baseball history — at least according to an upset Kershaw.

“It was just kind of an unfortunate situation,” Anderson said, explaining the circumstances nearly five years later. “I’m a very routine guy, down to the minute for everything I do. But I went out to the field to play catch 45 minutes before the game. I was on the field stretching, went to throw and I was just, ‘Oh man, I can’t really throw very well. This thing (his shoulder) is pretty tight. It’s not going to be good.’

“So I went into panic mode. Went inside and got some work done on my shoulder to try and loosen it up. Then I went back out and threw, like, 10 throws and tried to go as fast as I could. Behind the 8 ball.”

Anderson took a little too long and was walking in from the bullpen as Kershaw finished his warmup throws on the mound, causing the home-plate umpire to delay the start of the game briefly — oh so briefly.

Hours later after the game, Kershaw was still upset.

“That was one of the more disrespectful things I’ve been a part of in a game. Really didn’t appreciate that,” he said. “The game starts at 7:10. It’s started at 7:10 here for a long time.”

Anderson said there are no hard feelings about Kershaw’s harsh reaction.

“No. He’s a competitor,” Anderson said. “To disrupt his routine was probably not fair. I don’t blame him for that.

“And he gave up a couple runs that inning too (just one, actually) which he never does. So he was probably mad about that too. That’s my fault. That’s my bad.”

Anderson reported to Dodgers camp on Saturday and said Sunday that he hasn’t talked to Kershaw yet.

“But I’m probably not going to live that one down,” he said.

Anderson is certainly a familiar face for the Dodgers. He has started 15 times against them (13 times in his four seasons with the Rockies), the most he has faced any opponent. He figures into the group approach the Dodgers plan to use to cover innings early in the season with a compressed spring training that won’t allow starters to be fully built up by Opening Day.

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“He’s a great competitor. You see that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s an intelligent pitcher. It’s a fastball, changeup, breaking-ball mix. I think that for us, it’s just make sure we’re on the same page with him and how to use his mix versus left, versus right.

“That’s one of the reasons why he was so excited to become a Dodger. If there is a secret sauce, I think, it’s just more of getting players to realize what they’re really good at. … I think that the main thing is he’s open to kind of unlocking some things that I think we can get into.”

Anderson said he hasn’t had those kinds of conversations with the Dodgers staff yet. But it was a factor in his decision to sign with the Dodgers.

“Yeah, that part definitely helps,” he said. “There’s a track record here of trying to get the most out of everybody they bring in here, pitchers especially. There’s a lot of history with this uniform, guys that have pitched really well. So I just want to come in here and be a part of it, see what I can learn.”

ALSO

Roberts said Max Muncy will make his spring debut in Monday’s game with Freddie Freeman set to make his first start for the Dodgers on Tuesday. Mookie Betts will play his first game of the spring on Wednesday. … Musician Nelly was in camp Sunday and took batting practice with a Dodgers group including Betts. Nelly performed at Betts’ wedding last December.

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