For the third straight season, Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw has been forced to spend time on the disabled list due to a back injury.
The back strain he suffered this season came in his first start back from bicep tendonitis while pitching against the Philadelphia Phillies on May 31.
He missed around six weeks with the same injury in 2017, but it appears he is healing at a much quicker rate this time around as after a simulated game this past week, Kershaw feels ready to return to game action just three weeks after suffering the injury.
While there was some talk about him making a rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City in Omaha this weekend, it appears they have changed their plans as he will now start on Saturday against the New York Mets at Citi Field, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
Kershaw not going to Omaha for rehab start. Will start for Dodgers Saturday against Mets.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) June 22, 2018
The main reason for that is because of weather concerns in Omaha that may not have allowed Kershaw to pitch a full start.
With Kershaw returning and pitching Saturday, Rich Hill will then pitch on Sunday against the Mets with Kenta Maeda following when the team gets back home on Monday. Caleb Ferguson, who was scheduled to start on Saturday, will either be moved to the bullpen or optioned back to Triple-A.
Kershaw has never been too big of a fan of rehab starts, so he likely lobbied to pitch in New York as opposed to wasting his bullets in Omaha.
The Dodgers have the best record in the National League while Kershaw has been on the disabled list this season, although they will gladly welcome their ace back.
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