Clayton Kershaw is getting closer to returning to the Los Angeles Dodgers starting rotation.
The three-time National League Cy Young Award winner played two innings of a simulated game on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. His performance was encouraging enough for Kershaw to begin rehab Saturday, likely headed to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
“It was good to see him pitch two innings,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the pitching session. “We got what we wanted.”
The start of rehab will be the second for Kershaw since recovering from surgery to repair the capsule in his left shoulder and the ligaments around the ball-and-socket joint in November. The lefty pitched three innings for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga on June 19, but faced lingering soreness after the start and was shut down.
“Just an old man’s shoulder, a little bit,” he told Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times when asked last week about what happened. “There is some wear and tear there. But nothing new.”
After rehab began, Kershaw underwent an MRI that showed no damage to his left shoulder, met with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache and received “some pictures“to reduce pain.
Kershaw, 36, started 24 games for the Dodgers last season, his 16th year in MLB, striking out 137 batters in 131 2/3 innings and compiling a 2.46 ERA. With Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler on the injured list, Dustin May’s status for the season in question and Tony Gonsolin needing reconstructive elbow surgery, Kershaw’s return would be a welcome one.
Although with a 7 1/2 game lead in the National League West, he and the Dodgers can be patient with a recovery schedule. The team insists a return in late July or early August was always the goal, meaning Kershaw is on schedule.
However, Kershaw seems like someone who is tired of the rehab process.
“I won’t be happy until I go back there,” he told reporters.
“You don’t feel like you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing,” he added. “Even though it was part of the deal with the surgery, you knew you were going to be gone for a while, being around more now and getting closer and kind of getting a taste of being able to be back there, every day is starting to be a little more boring. .”
