LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw will make his season debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday towards the Los Angeles Angels.
The 37-year-old left-hander started his 18th season with the group on the injured checklist whereas recovering from toe and knee surgical procedures. His return comes at a essential time for the Dodgers, with starters Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and rookie Roki Sasaki on the injured checklist.
“It is a huge shot within the arm,” supervisor Dave Roberts stated Tuesday. “Clayton has labored actually laborious to get wholesome and the bar is excessive for him. He would not need to simply come again to be lively. He needs to be come again and assist us win baseball video games and be good. I do know he is excited to contribute.”
Kershaw struck out two and allowed a pair of runs on two hits and two walks in his remaining rehab begin with Triple-A Oklahoma Metropolis on Sunday. He threw 57 pitches over 4 innings.
“It felt good to be targeted on pitching,” he informed KLAC-AM earlier than Tuesday’s sport. “The previous couple of occasions I pitched final 12 months I simply targeted on how a lot my foot was hurting. Simply specializing in the following pitch versus what hurts. It has been a tough street however I am feeling good.”
Roberts stated Kershaw’s imminent return “provides a component of certainty and efficiency.”
The three-time Cy Younger Award winner will tie Zack Wheat and Invoice Russell for probably the most years with the Dodgers franchise when he begins this weekend. He and Russell are the one gamers to log 18 seasons for the reason that Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958.
“I am bored with taking over house,” Kershaw stated. “I need to contribute and assist the group out.”
Kershaw is 32 strikeouts from reaching 3,000 to go together with his 212 profession wins.
He stays decided to ultimately retire on his phrases quite than let circumstances dictate his plans. His household is “an enormous motivating issue as effectively,” he stated.
“If I’m going on the market and get shelled and I am not good anymore that is one factor,” Kershaw stated. “If one other hitter will get the perfect of me that is one factor, however I am not going to let it do it to myself.”
He made simply seven begins final 12 months earlier than his season led to August as a result of ache in his left huge toe. He watched from the sidelines because the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees to win their eighth World Sequence title.
Kershaw has been following his teammates on TV.
“It is a terrific group. Forty video games in you possibly can see lots of issues which are going very well,” he stated. “I simply need to be part of it.”
