Clayton Kershaw and Yoshinobu Yamamoto discussing grips is Dodgers fans’ heaven

Neither Yoshinobu Yamamoto nor Clayton Kershaw were the Dodgers' starter during Monday's game against the Giants, but both were still present in LA's dugout to root for the home team. Yamamoto was coming off of a much better second start than his first — on Saturday, he pitched five innings and only gave up one hit, striking out five along the way.

Kershaw won't pitch until the late summer, but he was spotted playing toss on the field at Dodger Stadium on Opening Day, signifying that his presence will very much be felt in the clubhouse until he returns to the mound.

The Japanese broadcast of that first game of three picked up a moment that will have Dodgers fans salivating: Yamamoto and Kershaw in the dugout, comparing pitch grips, Yamamoto's translator nowhere to be seen. Baseball transcends language barriers, folks!

The Japanese broadcast of Monday night's Dodgers game showed Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Clayton Kershaw comparing pitch grips

Yamamoto's MLB start has been a little clumsy. His first outing in spring training was great, but his second was a bust (though he wasn't helped by the defense the Dodgers put on display behind him). It was enough to get him bumped to Game 2 of the Seoul Series despite being expected to start Game 1, which instead saw the ball being given to Tyler Glasnow.

That Seoul Series Game 2 start didn't go well either, though. The day after the Dodgers were rocked by Ippei Mizuhara's firing, which marked some potentially very sticky trouble for Shohei Ohtani in the coming months, Yamamoto only pitched one inning, but gave up four hits and five earned runs. Back in the States, he was slotted into the rotation at No. 3, behind Glasnow and Bobby Miller.

However, his start against the Cardinals showed marked signs of adjustment to the majors. He's surrounded in the Dodgers rotation by veterans (both currently on the roster and on the IL), who will be able to impart a lot of wisdom. We can only hope that Kershaw was teaching him that legendary slider.