Kershaw was the seventh player taken in the June 6 amateur draft and turned down a scholarship to Texas A&M to begin his pro career. He was considered the top high school pitcher in the draft and was the Gatorade National Player of the Year.
The 18-year-old is 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, with a 92-mph fastball and a legitimate curveball. He suffered a strained oblique muscle in his regular-season finale. To that point, he was 9-0 with a 0.45 ERA, 109 strikeouts and 22 walks in 46 innings.
Baseball America rated Kershaw as the No. 6 player available overall, the No. 5 pitcher and the high school pitcher with the best fastball.
"I try to pattern myself after Johan Santana of the Twins," said Kershaw. "He's as close to a left-handed power pitcher as you can get."
"I'm excited for Clayton and his family that he is ready to sign and get his career started," Dodgers scouting director Logan White said. "I compare him to Dave Righetti. He throws from a high angle, has a power fastball, a good curveball and a feel for a changeup. He's got a natural delivery and he's a great makeup kid."
"He reminds me a lot of Chad Billingsley's situation a few years ago. Hopefully, Clayton will take a similar path to Chad's.
"It's amazing how fast these kids can actually get to the big leagues and contribute out of high school if their hearts are set on becoming major-league ballplayers."
The first time White watched the 6-foot-4 Kershaw pitch, he struck out all 15 batters he faced May 19. Kershaw was 12-0 with 139 strikeouts in 64 innings, throwing a fastball 96 mph and utilizing a hard slider.
Billingsley, the Dodgers' first- round pick in 2003, made his major-league debut Thursday at San Diego, pitching 5.1 strong innings.
Kershaw is scheduled to report to the Dodgers' Gulf Coast League affiliate in Vero Beach. But first, he will visit Dodger Stadium for Tuesday night's game with Seattle, along with first-round sandwich pick Preston Mattingly, a shortstop from Evansville Central High who signed last week for $1 million. Mattingly is the son of Yankees hitting instructor Don Mattingly, the 1985 American League MVP.
The Dodgers now have signed six of their top seven picks at a total cost of $4.025 million. Hochevar, who demanded $4 million from the Dodgers and who re-entered the draft and was the first overall selection by Kansas City, still hasn't signed with the Royals.
2B Tommy Giles, Miami, and 1B Andy D'Alesio, Clemson, and their teams are playing in the College World Series.
Dodger Draft Class of 2006
Round Player Position School State
1 *Clayton Kershaw lhp Highland HS, Dallas TX
2 *Bryan Morris rhp Motlow State CC TN
3 *Preston Mattingly ss Evansville HS IN
4 *Kyle Orr 1b Lambrick Park, Victoria, B.C.
5 *Kyle Smit rhp Spanish Springs HS, Sparks NV
6 *Garrett White lhp Mississippi MI
7 *Jamie Ortiz 1b San Alfonso HS, Guayama PR
8 Tommy Giles of Miami FL
9 Bridger Hunt 3b Central Missouri State MO
10 Andy D'Alessio 1b Clemson SC
11 *Justin Fuller ss Lewis-Clark St College ID
12 Paul Coleman lhp Pepperdine CA
13 Nicholas Akins ss Los Angeles HS CA
14 Alex White rhp Conley HS, Greenville NC
15 Gorman Erickson c Westview HS, San Diego CA
16 Justin Coats ss Texas HS, Texarkana TX
17 *Michael Rivera 2b Tennessee TN
18 *Joe Jones rhp Portland OR
19 Martin Beno rhp Gulf Coast JC MS
20 *Billy Bullock rhp Riverview HS FL
21 *Matthew Berezay of Pacific CA
22 *Chris Jensen of UCLA CA
23 Eric Thompson rhp Roseburg HS OR
24 *John Martin c Emporia State KS
25 *Esteban Lopez c Hawaii HI
26 Kody Kaiser 2b Oklahoma OK
27 A.J. Casario c Overbrook HS, Pine Hill NJ
28 Taylor Lewis rhp Canyon HS, Oro Valley AZ
29 Roberto Perez c Eugenio de Hostos HS PR
30 Alex Burkard lhp Milton HS, Alpharetta GA
31 Jonathan Wilson 3b St. Charles HS MO
32 Jordan Kopycinski c St.Thomas HS, Houston TX
33 Kurt Bradley 2b Northern Iowa IA
34 Luke Yoder of Liberty HS, Bakersfield CA
35 Nick Buss of San Diego Mesa JC CA
36 Robert Taylor c Laredo (Texas) CC TX
37 Anthony Benner 3b Southwestern JC CA
38 Kameron Forte c Texas HS, Texarkana, TX
39 Jake Debus lhp Moraine Valley (Ill.) CC IL
40 Chris Jones ss Redan HS, Stone Mountain GA
41 Todd McCraw c St James HS, Myrtle Beach SC
42 Joe Dispensa of St. Rita HS, Chicago IL
43 Jordan Chambless rhp Texas A&M TX
44 Aaron Barrett rhp Evansville HS, IN
45 Greg Hendrix lhp North Atlanta HS GA
46 Ryan Aguayo 2b Servite HS, Anaheim CA
47 Brett Sowers 3b Cherry Creek HS, Englewood CO
48 Tanner Biagini 3b Conley HS, Greenville NC
49 Paul Goldschmidt 1b The Woodlands HS TX
50 Kurt Benton of West Stanly HS, Oakboro, N.C.