The Los Angeles Dodgers are set to receive a big-name boost to their beleaguered rotation.
Clayton Kershaw is in line to make his 2024 debut Thursday afternoon at home against the San Francisco Giants after missing the first four months of the season while recovering from a November shoulder surgery.
That plan was confirmed by the Dodgers after Saturday night’s 7-6 win in 11 innings over the Boston Red Sox in Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Kershaw, 36, made his third minor-league rehab start on Friday night with Triple-A Oklahoma City, allowing three runs on six hits over four innings against the Texas Rangers’ affiliate in Round Rock.
The left-hander threw 67 pitches. His previous two rehab starts both lasted three innings.
“I mean, ultimately, it’s just where the team is at,” Kershaw said after Friday’s outing, according to the LA Times. “Because, obviously, I’m not built up to 100 pitches. So would love to come back whenever they need me, obviously. But don’t want to put the team in a bad spot, especially the way we’ve been grinding through the last few weeks.”
The Dodgers’ rotation is also missing Yoshinobu Yamamoto (triceps tightness); Walker Buehler (hip); and Tyler Glasnow, who is expected to return from lower-back tightness on Wednesday against the Giants.
Fellow starters Tony Gonsolin (elbow) and Dustin May (torn esophagus) are both out for the season.
Kershaw, a three-time National League Cy Young Award winner, pitched to a 2.46 ERA over 131.2 innings last season en route to his 10th All-Star selection. In February, he signed a one-year deal with a player option.
“Health-wise, I feel good,” Kershaw said Friday.
Starting on Thursday would mark Kershaw’s first MLB appearance since he surrendered six runs in only 0.1 innings in a loss in Game 1 of the NLDS to the Arizona Diamondbacks last October.
He is 56 strikeouts away from 3,000 for his career.
“I know his words are [that] he doesn’t want to put us in harm’s way as far as putting stress on the bullpen,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Kershaw’s impending return before Saturday’s game.
“But for me, for him to take the baseball, if he feels good about where he’s at physically, we can deal with the fallout. We have coverage, but I just want him and the training staff to feel kind of the same way about it.”
The Dodgers, who are also missing shortstop Mookie Betts due to a fractured left hand, lost six of their final seven games before the All-Star break. Saturday’s win over Boston was their second in a row to begin the second half. Entering Sunday, the Dodgers were 58-41 and seven games up in the NL West.
“Obviously, right now we’re in a little bit of dire straits,” Kershaw said Friday. “We need to hold on a little bit.”
Kershaw was one of several star pitchers to miss the start of the 2024 season. Yankees ace Gerrit Cole made his season debut last month after being diagnosed with elbow inflammation during spring training, while the Mets’ Kodai Senga (shoulder strain) is nearing his after making his fourth minor-league rehab start on Saturday.
Houston’s Justin Verlander missed the first 20 games with shoulder inflammation and is out with neck discomfort, while Texas’ Max Scherzer did not make his season debut until June 23 as he recovered from back surgery. The Mets traded Verlander and Scherzer to their current clubs last summer.
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