Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced an MRI did not reveal Clayton Kershaw suffered any ligament damage and he isn’t going to require Tommy John surgery. It’s a positive turn of events after the left-hander came out of his last start due to forearm discomfort.
“Huge sigh of relief for all of us,” Roberts said before the Dodgers’ workout for the National League Wild Card Game. For further clarity, he added Tommy John surgery “is not on the table.”
Kershaw previously missed two months this season while recovering from left forearm inflammation/elbow soreness. An initial attempt at a comeback stalled after facing batters for the first time since being placed on the 10-day injured list.
Residual soreness forced Kershaw to temporarily shut down his recovery process before resuming a methodical throwing program. He later admitted to rushing the rehab but remained resolute in returning and contributing in any role the Dodgers needed.
Upon getting activated in the middle of September, Kershaw and the Dodgers were confident he could make enough starts to fully stretch out come the postseason. That was holding true even with Kershaw only managing to pitch 4.1 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sept. 25.
Roberts expected the 33-year-old to land in the neighborhood of 80 to 90 pitches in the series opener with the Milwaukee Brewers. Instead, Kershaw recorded just five outs before he could no longer continue pitching.
“Just felt something there in my elbow in the second inning. Forearm, elbow, I don’t know what it is but kind of the same thing I’ve been dealing with,” Kershaw said after the Dodgers’ comeback win. “Just got bad enough to where I couldn’t keep going.”
Kershaw finishes the season at 10-8 with a 3.55 ERA and 1.02 WHIP over 22 starts. It’s his highest ERA since a rookie campaign in 2008, and fewest number of starts in a full season since making 21 in 2016.
Kershaw focused on supporting Dodgers, not free agency
Although Kershaw’s future is clouded by uncertainty, that is not of any concern to him at present time.
“I’ve said this before, my future is going to take care of itself. I’m not really worried about that right now. I really wanted to be a part of the moment right now and I wanted to be with this group going through October,” Kershaw said.
“That was my only focus this whole year once I got hurt, was to come back and make up for it this month. So that’s the hard part right now, knowing it’s going to be a challenge to contribute at all this next month.
“As far as anything else goes, I haven’t really wrapped my head around it and I don’t plan to anytime soon. I’m just excited to watch these guys.”
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