Clayton Kershaw is the expected starter for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday night when they face the Round Rock Express (Texas Rangers affiliate) in the opener of a three-game series at Dell Diamond.
The rehab start is Kershaw’s third of the year, but second in a row since he was briefly shut down due to lingering left shoulder soreness. That amounted to a three-and-a-half week break between outings after Kershaw threw three scoreless innings for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga on June 19.
The 36-year-old revealed he received “shots” that helped treat the shoulder trouble before resuming a throwing program. Kershaw then completed three no-hit innings for the Oklahoma City Baseball Club on July 13, needing just 38 pitches (23 strikes) to get through the start while facing one over the minimum.
Kershaw did more throwing in the bullpen to build his pitch count up to 50.
“It was good to get back out there,” he said after the start. “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.”
The expectation is the left-hander will continue stretching out with a target of going four innings. Dell Diamond is north of Austin and not unreasonably far from where Kershaw makes his offseason home in the Dallas area.
Assuming Kershaw again adds onto his pitch count, it’s possible the next step would be coming off the 60-day injured list and joining the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rotation.
When Kershaw first began his rehab assignment last month, manager Dave Roberts suggested it would only need to be three or four starts before the Dodgers considered welcoming him back.
Clayton Kershaw’s stats during rehab starts
On his rehab assignment thus far, Kershaw has pitched a combined six innings and allowed just one run while collecting 10 strikeouts against two walks.
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