Clayton Kershaw continued his rehab assignment on Tuesday night with a dominant performance for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Rookie-level affiliate as he inches closer to returning to a Major League mound
The three-time Cy Young Award winner threw six no-hit innings against the Cincinnati Reds’ Arizona Complex League team, striking out four and walking one.
Kershaw’s pitch count wasn’t tracked, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts set a goal of him stretching out to six innings.
With the outing for the ACL Dodgers at Camelback Ranch, Kershaw has now made four rehab starts. That includes two with Triple-A Oklahoma City and another for Double-A Tulsa. He is in line to make one more Minor League outing before rejoining the Dodgers later this month.
Kershaw is working his way back from offseason left toe and left knee surgeries. The left-hander said at the start of his rehab assignment that he felt good throwing the ball, but his toe was recovering slower than expected.
Kershaw put off retirement by re-signing with the Dodgers on a one-year, $7.5 million contract during the offseason. He previously stated that his hope was to pitch for the team sometime in June, but that could potentially come to fruition sooner.
When can Clayton Kershaw return to Dodgers?
Kershaw is eligible to be activated from the 60-day injured list on May 17. With the Dodgers in need of starting pitching, it appears likely that he could return on that date or shortly after.
Kershaw’s imminent return comes at a time in which Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are currently shut down from throwing. The team received a reinforcement last month when Tony Gonsolin was activated from the 15-day IL.
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