Clayton Kershaw lost his mother, Marianne Tombaugh, on May 13 but remained on the Los Angeles Dodgers roster to make a scheduled start against the Minnesota Twins three days later.
Kershaw then remained with the Dodgers as they began their season-long road trip and started in the series finale against the St. Louis Cardinals. He was placed on the bereavement list the following afternoon but remained committed to return for a start in the second game of this weekend’s series with the Tampa Bay Rays.
MLB roster rules require a player to remain on the bereavement list for a minimum of three days, but no more than seven.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Kershaw is set to rejoin the team on Friday and he’s remained active in preparing to start against the Rays, via SportsNet LA:
“Be back with us Friday, to then potentially pitch Saturday. … He’s got his own kind of people or places to keep his arm moving, yes.”
Kershaw conceivably could meet the Dodgers in St. Petersburg for the series opener but not be activated until Saturday. Taking such approach would allow L.A. to keep an additional relief pitcher on their active roster for at least one more.
Once Kershaw does return, he’ll look to bounce back from consecutive subpar outings. The 35-year-old threw just four innings against the Twins and followed that up with just 3.2 against the Cardinals.
Kershaw’s outing at Busch Stadium marked the shortest start he’s has made since 2021. It was the first time Kershaw made back-to-back starts of four innings or fewer since 2009.
Overall on the season, Kershaw still has an impressive 2.98 ERA across 57.1 innings with a 1.10 WHIP and 69 strikeouts.
Clayton Kershaw frustrated
After laboring through a second consecutive start, the three-time Cy Young Award winner voiced frustration with his recent performance and said he simply needed to pitch better moving forward.
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