After facing the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 26, Clayton Kershaw was slated to make two more starts before the Los Angeles Dodgers reached the All-Star break. That of course never occurred as the left-handed ace landed on the disabled list with a mild disc herniation.
Losing Kershaw was offset in some regard by the Dodgers trading for Bud Norris, and the returns of Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-Jin Ryu. While losing the three-time Cy Young Award winner nonetheless left a large hole in the rotation, the Dodgers went 10-4 since Kershaw last started.
A timeline for his recovery has not been publicly revealed, it was reported doctors estimated Kershaw would miss four to six weeks. That surfaced after he was cleared to begin playing catch as part of a five-step rehabilitation process.
That led to Kershaw on Sunday throwing his first bullpen session since being placed on the 15-day disabled list, which he said went well, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“All good,” Kershaw said after the abbreviated bullpen session, in which he threw all pitches and had no discomfort.
Roberts described Kershaw’s mound session as “a touch-and-feel, a light ‘pen” of about 25 pitches.
Although he won’t be able to participate, Kershaw will travel to San Diego and be present at the All-Star Game at Petco Park on Tuesday. He intends to throw another bullpen session during that time:
ershaw, who was named to the National League All-Star team but is ineligible to play because he is on the disabled list, said he plans to throw a bullpen session while in San Diego for the All-Star Game festivities.
Los Angeles will begin a nine-game road trip after the break still without the services of their ace. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said it’s plausible Kershaw will return to the rotation the second time through.
