Sidelined since the first week of May with left biceps tendinitis, Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw is now set to return after a steady build up that began with throwing off flat ground.
Over the weekend, Kershaw successfully completed a simulated game and felt healthy afterward, throwing 60 pitches over four innings against the likes of Austin Barnes, Cody Bellinger, Kiké Hernandez and Chase Utley.
It left the three-time Cy Young Award winner on track to return and start in the series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies. Aside from gaining a pitcher of Kershaw’s caliber, his coming off the disabled list comes at an opportune time as Kenta Maeda is now sidelined.
While on the disabled list, Kershaw revealed he extensively worked on improving his mechanics for the first time in his career, per Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“I’ve been working on little stuff here and there,” Kershaw said. “But when you start focusing on getting hitters out, you obviously stop thinking about your mechanics and just focus on trying to get hitters out. … You never should focus on mechanics when you’re competing. That’s what the in-between (starts) is for. I’m never really been a mechanics guy. The past few weeks I’ve been working on it a little bit. It’s probably the first time that I can remember that I really focused on it. We’ll see.”
Prior to his injury, Kershaw had made seven starts while compiling a 2.86 ERA, 3.68 FIP and 1.14 WHIP over 44 innings pitched with 48 strikeouts to 10 walks.
He has already yielded seven home runs this season, which is tied with Rich Hill and Alex Wood for the team high. So perhaps tinkering with mechanics under the guidance of pitching coach Rick Honeycutt will prove beneficial for Kershaw going forward.
Kershaw’s inevitable return to the starting rotation will further stabilize a unit that in addition to Maeda, has lost the likes of Hill and Hyun-Jin Ryu to respective blister and groin injuries.
As part of our efforts to help you understand how we handle the personal information you share with us, and in preparation for the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we’ve updated our Privacy & Cookies Policy. The updated Privacy & Cookies Policy will take effect on May 22, 2018. By using our services on or after that date, you’ll be agreeing to our updated Privacy & Cookies Policy. We recommend that you read our updated Privacy & Cookies Policy in full.
