By Jon Weisman

GLENDALE, Ariz. — No intensity in February? Forget about that.

Clayton Kershaw threw live batting practice today, and though it’s all about getting the work in at this point, he meant business, grunting on his pitches, shouting an exclamation when one missed its target and only grudgingly conceding the fun in Juan Uribe hitting a home run off him.

Uribe’s homer was really the only hard-hit ball off Kershaw in his opening session.

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Elsewhere on a Spring Training day cloudy in the sky but sunny in the spirit …

  • Yasmani Grandal, who was firing rockets off his bat in batting practice today, gets an encouraging first assessment from Steve Yeager in this story by Lyle Spencer of MLB.com.
  • Kershaw finished No. 1 on MLB Network’s Top 100 players of the moment.
  • Non-roster pitcher Erik Bedard will start the Dodgers’ Cactus League opener Wednesday against the White Sox, with Kershaw on tap for Thursday. Neither is expected to go more than two innings. The team will then have a pair of split-squad games Friday. Eric Stephen has more on the starting pitching at True Blue L.A.
  • Stephen also provides this helpful reminder that Spring Training records don’t matter. Since 2008, the Dodgers have played no better than .500 in Spring Training, and no worse than .494 in the regular season.
  • This could hurt my plans for Austin Barnes to make history as the Dodgers’ first true catcher-second baseman. Farhan Zaidi told Ken Gurnick of MLB.com that the team wants Barnes to focus on catching for now.
  • Tampa Bay import Joel Peralta told Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles that he’s looking forward to getting out of the American League East. “I’m not a power pitcher,” Peralta said. “I have to trick guys to get them out and, after facing a guy 50 times, he has a pretty good idea what I’ve got.”