Clayton Kershaw completed the targeted three innings in a rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday.
Kershaw faced the minimum and retired the first six batters before issuing a leadoff walk on four pitches in the third inning. He followed that by collecting a strikeout and inducing an inning-ending double play.
Kershaw finished with five strikeouts and threw 38 pitches (23 strikes).
“It was good to get back out there,” he said. “I thought it actually went pretty well and was better than my last one, so that was encouraging, for sure. Got through three innings, which was kind of the goal. Definitely have one more and go from there. Overall, I would say it was pretty positive.”
His night concluded with throwing more pitches in the bullpen in order to continue stretching out in a controlled environment.
“It’s kind of like what I do in Spring Training sometimes,” Kershaw noted. “I think the goal was to get to 50, so instead of going back out for the fourth, which probably would’ve been too much, kind of do it in a little tamer setting in the bullpen to get to 50 pitches and be ready for that fourth inning in the next one.”
Kershaw went into the outing after successfully recovering from left shoulder soreness that prompted him to be shut down for a brief stretch. The discomfort was alleviated by what the veteran referred to as being administered “some shots.”
“Thankful it was only a little blip on the screen. Get back out there, get through three innings, which was big. Overall, there were a lot of positives,” Kershaw said. “Some stuff I still need to work on, obviously, but for the most part it was a positive night.”
Including his start for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, Kershaw has thrown six innings and allowed one run while collecting 10 strikeouts against one walk on his rehab assignment.
What is next step for Clayton Kershaw?
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts suggested Kershaw would make an additional start after this weekend’s outing with Oklahoma City and there would then be a conversation as the next step.
Should the 36-year-old stretch out to four innings in his third rehab start, it’s not beyond reason that Kershaw would then come off the 60-day injured list to join the Dodgers rotation.
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