Clayton Kershaw says he is not eager to face Zack Greinke

Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke were teammates for three seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but they’ll be facing each other on Friday night.

For his part, Kershaw isn’t looking forward to it.

“I don’t really look forward to it,” Kershaw said, via ESPN. “You almost just try to block it out. It’s not fun to pitch to people that you know. I’m not good at separating that. I think I’m just going to have to really focus and think about it like he’s another guy, and then, the next day I can talk to him.

“Guys that you became pretty good buddies with — it’s not easy for me. I wouldn’t say I’m not looking forward to it, but I’m definitely going to have to block it out a little bit.”

Greinke, on the other hand, is very much looking forward to facing his old pal.

“I’ve been wanting to face him, just to see how nasty he is,” Greinke said. “He does do everything as perfect as you would want your pitcher to do — great mindset, great work ethic. I learned more about that than the actual pitching part of it. He’s pretty special.”

Greinke does love to hit, and hitting against a buddy of his will definitely appeal to him. Kershaw clearly doesn’t feel the same.