5:37pm: Kershaw is headed to the injured record as a result of situation, supervisor Dave Roberts informed reporters (together with Invoice Plunkett of the Orange County Register). Proper-hander Ben Casparius has been recalled from the minors to take Kershaw’s roster spot, and Plunkett provides that left-hander Justin Wrobleski is ready to be referred to as up when rosters broaden tomorrow to begin tomorrow’s sport. That would depart Wrobleski in place to take over Kershaw’s spot within the rotation comparatively seamlessly.
7:55am: Clayton Kershaw threw simply 27 pitches in Friday’s begin earlier than soreness in his left huge toe pressured the longtime Dodgers starter out of the sport. Kershaw was charged with three earned runs over one inning of labor plus one batter confronted within the second body, because the left-hander left the mound after permitting a house run to Corbin Carroll.
Talking with reporters (together with Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Occasions) after the sport, Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts defined that Kershaw’s toe discomfort was brought on by a bone spur that has been lingering for a number of seasons. “Some begins it feels advantageous and it’s not impeding. At the moment actually it was,” Roberts mentioned.
Given the longstanding nature of the harm, it isn’t essentially clear whether or not or not Kershaw will must be positioned on the 15-day injured record. Kershaw and Roberts each said that some testing and analysis might want to occur earlier than a choice is made, and the Dodgers have some further time to watch the state of affairs since Kershaw wasn’t scheduled to pitch till subsequent Friday. L.A. is anticipated to name up Justin Wrobleski for a spot begin on Sunday, and the crew has an off-day on Thursday, giving Kershaw extra alternative to relaxation.
That mentioned, it clearly wouldn’t be stunning if the Dodgers opted to place Kershaw on the IL at the same time as a precautionary measure. Kershaw’s prolonged harm historical past is well-documented, and he didn’t make his 2024 debut till July 25 as a result of a prolonged restoration from shoulder surgical procedure final November. The southpaw has posted a 4.50 ERA and solely an 18% strikeout fee over 30 innings, and whereas it isn’t a giant pattern dimension, Kershaw’s fastball velocity has dropped to 89.9 mph.
Dropping Kershaw to the IL would signify yet one more blow to the injury-ravaged Los Angeles rotation. The Dodgers have nonetheless posted an 81-54 report regardless of having to account for a number of injured arms for the whole lot of the season. Roberts mentioned the crew may be very prone to make some roster strikes right this moment so as to add recent arms to a bullpen that needed to cowl eight innings on Friday, and a few further respiration area will come Sunday when groups broaden their rosters from 26 to twenty-eight gamers.
Including simply aid depth, nonetheless, won’t present a lot assist to an L.A. crew that also has loads of questions on its beginning employees because the postseason approaches. Contemplating the Dodgers’ five-game lead within the NL West, it could take fairly a collapse for the membership to truly miss the playoffs, but it actually appears doable that Los Angeles might have one other sturdy common season undone by an absence of wholesome arms in October. By way of reinforcements, Yoshinobu Yamamoto has began a Triple-A rehab project and could possibly be again inside a few weeks, although it isn’t but clear when Tyler Glasnow might return from a bout of proper elbow tendinitis.
