"Clayton Kershaw was the national player of the year as a high school senior in Texas. Andre Ethier was an all-state player in Arizona. Rod Barajas was an all-league catcher in Southern California.

Hiroki Kuroda was none of that … and less.

Kuroda, who will start the Dodgers' series opener in Cincinnati on Friday, spent almost his entire high school career on the bench.

This wasn't one of those cases in which a coach played his son or nephew over a more talented player. "He was the third-best pitcher on the team," said Hidemasa Tanaka, who coached Kuroda at Uenomiya High in Japan's Osaka prefecture.

Tanaka was at Dodger Stadium when Kuroda shut out the Milwaukee Brewers over 7 2/3 innings on May 17 in a 3-0 victory for the Dodgers.

"I never imagined he would be able to pitch here," Tanaka said.

Kuroda, 36, said his experience in high school is what drove him to become one of the most decorated Japanese pitchers of his era. "I wanted to prove him wrong," he said of Tanaka.

Tanaka, who now coaches at a different high school in Osaka, smiled as he recalled how he had high expectations for Kuroda when he heard he would attend his school. Kuroda's father, Kazuhiro, was a professional player.

But Tanaka soon realized that Kuroda didn't measure up to his father.

"Pro scouts frequently came to watch our teams play," Tanaka said. "But no one bothered with Kuroda. There was no point."

Kuroda was tall and threw hard. He had discipline. But he had one major problem: control.

When Dodgers reliever Hong-Chih Kuo was placed on the disabled list with an anxiety disorder that was blamed for his past command issues, Kuroda said he faced a similar obstacle in high school."