The timing of the All-Star Game should work just fine for Clayton Kershaw. (USATSI)
The timing of the All-Star Game should work just fine for Clayton Kershaw. (USATSI)

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MINNEAPOLIS -- Dodgers ace of aces Clayton Kershaw won't start Tuesday night's All-Star Game for the NL, but he figures to be the second hurler in line for manager Mike Matheny. Regardless of when he logs his inning (or two), Kershaw won't see his routine upset by the Midsummer Classic. 

"This is my start day," he said in the NL clubhouse on Tuesday. "So just think of it as a really short start for me."

So short "start" on regular rest it shall be. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly has already pegged Kershaw as his Sunday starter against the Cardinals in St. Louis, which means Kershaw will enter that start on full rest, again if you consider his brief All-Star outing to be a "start."

Given the back inflammation that sidelined Kershaw for more than a month earlier this season, being able to adhere to the usual routine is a good thing. As well, the comfortable majority of Kershaw's 196 career starts have come on four-days' rest (56.1 percent of his starts, to be exact).

Besides that injury, it's also worth keeping mind that Kershaw is coming off a 2013 season in which he logged 259 innings counting the postseason. So the lighty duty headed his way Tuesday night is indeed welcome. "It's good to get the rest," Kershaw said. "Actually, I think getting the rest is more important than staying on schedule."

Lucky for Kershaw and the Dodgers, Kershaw will enjoy both rest and the routine that's most familiar to him.