Ducati revised these cables sometime in 2014 with a small plastic bushing over the metal slug at the lever end, to reduce lever pull effort and stop the cable from fraying (common problem with these bikes).
This is the "new" version of the cable, the good one.
Replaced my cable when doing the 18k service, made a big difference, so much easier to pull, I think over time it gets stiffer (even with regular lubrication) and you just get used to it.
On inspection mine was starting to wear near the clutch end where the inner cable comes out of the outer cable, was wearing thin and two broken wires.