A pair of injured Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers both continued their rehab assignments with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday, with Clayton Kershaw starting the game and Michael Kopech pitching out of the bullpen.
For Kershaw, it was likely his final rehab start before he returns to the Dodgers’ rotation in less than a week. Kershaw is eligible to be activated off the 60-day injured list on May 17.
However, the expectation is that might not take place until the following day, when Kershaw would make his 2025 debut against the Los Angeles Angels.
With Kershaw in line to return, his outing was scheduled to be a shorter one for OKC. The left-hander went four innings, allowing two runs on two hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
Both runs came in Kershaw’s final inning. He issued a leadoff walk to Tyler Freeman and a to single to Sterlin Thompson. The future Hall of Famer appeared close to getting out of the inning when Warming Bernabel grounded into a double play.
But with Freeman on third, Aaron Schunk slugged a two-run home run. Zac Veen ended the inning, and Kershaw’s outing, when he lined out to center field.
Kershaw finished his rehab assignment with a 2.57 ERA over 21 innings to go along with 16 strikeouts and a 0.81 WHIP across five games. Three of his starts came in Triple-A, where he threw 12 innings with a 3.75 ERA and 0.92 WHIP.
Michael Kopech bounces back in Dodgers rehab assignment
Kopech made his second rehab outing, looking to improve upon a disastrous first outing when he walked all five hitters he faced on 23 pitches. At one point, he threw 18 consecutive balls and finished with 20 in total.
The right-hander was far better in his second outing, throwing one scoreless inning while allowing one hit and striking out two.
Kopech took over in the fifth inning after Kershaw exited the game. He struck out Julio Carreras as the first batter he faced before allowing a double to Ronaiker Palma.
Trevor Boone then flied out to center field and Kopech ended the inning by striking out Ezequiel Tovar.
Kopech is still a ways away from returning to the roster as he needs to pitch in back-to-back days, which will come near the end of his rehab assignment.
A return near the end of May or early June could be in line, Kopech has a maximum of 30 days that he can be on a rehab assignment, which he first began on May 8.
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