ANAHEIM – Clayton Kershaw doesn’t have to wait long to leave the shortest start of his career behind.
The Dodgers will start Kershaw against the Angels on Saturday night with only three days of rest. The left-hander became an option to fill a position in the starting rotation created by Dustin May’s late-season injury when he only completed one inning in Chicago on Tuesday.
« I think it was just kind of what happened on its last launch, » said Dave Roberts, Dodgers manager. « I just felt like he could be out there again after a short break because he didn’t do too much for a large sample at this start.
Roberts said the Dodgers « trampled » the idea of starting Trevor Bauer with a short break on Saturday. But Bauer threw 90 places in the second game of the double header on Tuesday evening at Wrigley Field. Kershaw tossed 39 in his one inning in that double-header’s first game.
Kershaw has never taken a short break during the regular season, but the Dodgers asked the three-time Cy Young Award winner to do so several times during the postseason between 2013 and 2016. He started the first game of the 2018 World Series against the Boston Red Sox with only two days off. But that was after a relief appearance in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series in which he threw an inning and threw 15 pitches.
The Dodgers stopped asking Kershaw to take a short rest as back injuries became a yearly problem. These have subsided over the past two years.
« We definitely know the story of Clayton, » said Roberts. « But for the way he’s been in recent history and currently physically, he’s in a great place. » So it just made our decision for us. But yeah, we wouldn’t have done that in the past few years. «
Bauer starts the series finals on Sunday in Anaheim. With two days off next week, the Dodgers don’t need a fifth starter until May 18th at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Reliever Joe Kelly was struck off the injury list on Thursday and joined the Dodgers in Anaheim for the weekend streak to add a skilled arm to a bullpen exhausted from injury.
Kelly had surgery in November to remove cysts from his pitching shoulder and said he felt « 500 percent » better than trying to pitch with the disease in 2020.
« Even one day or two days after the operation you were obviously ailing. But I got immediate relief, » said Kelly.
« For that matter … I look back at the end of last year and where I was. I ground and tried to throw. My mechanics were different almost every time just because it was hard to repeat. I think when I really let it crack every now and then, I hit 97, a lot of 95s.
« It’s a good sign I’ve thrown from old site games to bullpens to live BPs, and my bikes were all 95 to 97. … looking forward to being out there again to be and see where my things are. But for me, who don’t get the repetitions of a whole season, I think my things are better than they were at the end of last year – which is good. »
Kelly has additional motivation to do well this season. It’s the final year of the three-year $ 25 million contract he signed with the Dodgers as a free agent. But he doesn’t see it that way.
« To be honest, I didn’t think about it. You are the first person who asks me, » he said of the contract situation. « It didn’t cross my mind either way. I’m just ready to play baseball for the Dodgers again, beat my heart out, and be with these guys. »
Little league right-handed Brock Stewart announced on his Twitter account on Friday that he will have an operation on Tommy John next week.
Stewart, 29, played for the Dodgers over four seasons (2016-19), going down to 2-3 with an ERA of 5.46. He was called upon by the Toronto Blue Jays for exemption in July 2019 and made ten appearances for the Blue Jays that season. Stewart was drafted as a rule 5 choice by the Chicago Cubs after the 2019 season. It was released in May and was unsuccessful in 2020.
He was signed to a minor league contract this spring, but was plagued by elbow pain and never pitched. He will be on pause until the end of 2022 after Tommy John’s surgery.
Roberts said he saw a video of outfielder / first baseman Cody Bellinger running at « probably about 60 percent » in the outfield of Camelback Ranch.
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« He looked good, made good recovery, » said Roberts of Bellinger recovering from a broken hair in his left leg. « So we’re assuming we’ll keep increasing that percentage of the effort. … So it’s moving, but when you’re dealing with a fracture, you still need to make sure it’s healed. »
Roberts also reported that infielder / outfielder Zach McKinstry, who is out with a tense oblique muscle, is now able to sneeze without pain.
Dodgers (LHP Clayton Kershaw, 4-3, 2.95 ERA) at Angels (RHP Dylan Bundy, 0-3, 4.00 ERA) Saturday, 6 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 p.m.
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