The Los Angeles Dodgers had originally hoped to get Clayton Kershaw back for their first turn through the rotation after the All-Star break, but that has proven too optimistic.
The good news is that the Dodgers sound optimistic that Kershaw won’t be much further away after the ace lefty threw a bullpen session on Sunday.
“To see Clayton in a pen, throwing off a mound, is definitely encouraging,” manager Dave Roberts said, via ESPN’s Doug Padilla.
Kershaw threw 20-25 pitches off the mound Sunday, the first time he’d done so since June 26, the date of his last start before he hit the DL with mild disc herniation.
Kershaw is eligible to come off the DL on Friday. That will not happen, and Roberts was tight-lipped on whether he might be able to return on the second turn through the rotation.
It’s been another dominant season for Kershaw, leading the NL with a 1.79 ERA and putting up an astonishing 145-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 121 innings. The Dodgers would like to have him soon in hopes of getting more pitches like this.
