The Los Angeles Dodgers recalled Ben Casparius from Triple-A Oklahoma City and placed Clayton Kershaw on the 15-day injured list due to a bone spur in his left big toe. Kershaw’s official designation is left toe inflammation.
It was one of two moves the Dodgers made on Saturday, which also included calling up Brent Honeywell from OKC and putting Joe Kelly on the 15-day injured list because of right shoulder inflammation.
Kershaw’s injury forced him to be removed in the second inning of his start against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. That came after laboring through the first inning, which Kershaw explained was partly due to not being able to push off the mound when pitching.
Kershaw alerted the Dodgers of the discomfort between innings and was removed upon giving up a leadoff home run to Corbin Carrol in the second.
The Dodgers initially announced Kershaw came out because of pain in his left big toe. Manager Dave Roberts revealed after his team’s win that Kershaw has sporadically dealt with the bone spur for multiple seasons.
The left-hander was making just his seventh start of the year after spending much of the season completing a rehab process for shoulder surgery.
Chase Field remains the only stadium Kershaw has a losing record at in his career.
Dodgers recall Ben Casparius
Casparius is on the Dodgers roster second time this season, but hasn’t made his MLB debut yet. Casparius is ranked as the No. 39 Dodgers prospect by FanGraphs.
The right-hander began the 2024 Minor League season with Double-A Tulsa before earning a promotion to OKC. He threw just 21.2 innings for the Drillers while posting a 3.32 ERA, 3.15 FIP, 35.8% strikeout rate and walking 11.6% of batters faced.
With Oklahoma City, Casparius has 3.30 ERA over 14 appearances (13 starts).
The 25-year-old has been plagued by walk issues throughout his Minor League career but is benefitting this season from an increase in velocity that pairs well with a fastball that tops out at 98 mph and a highly-rated slider.
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