Year 18 for Clayton Kershaw officially has its start date.
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters Tuesday that the three-time Cy Young winner will make his season debut on Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels. Kershaw missed the first month and a half of the season while rehabbing from surgeries on both his foot and knee last November.
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Kershaw has posted a 2.57 ERA in five rehab starts, three of which were spent with the Triple-A Oklahoma City Comets.
At 37 years old, Kershaw is the longest-tenured player on the Dodgers and several years removed from his prime. While he holds a strong 2.79 ERA since the 2020 season, he hasn’t pitched more than 131 2/3 innings in a single season in that span. Last year was his worst by far, missing the first four or so months due to shoulder surgery and the final month, plus the postseason, with a bone spur in his left big toe.
He still at least got to enjoy celebrating a second World Series championship with the Dodgers.
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While the overarching narrative of last offseason was that the Dodgers did need Kershaw, with a stacked rotation and significant depth in the minors, the team still brought him back on a one-year, $7.5 million deal. Not many players would get that sum after undergoing three surgeries in the span of two offseasons, with a 4.50 ERA between them, but that is how much Kershaw means to the team.
Kershaw is also coming back to the Dodgers when they actually do need him. Despite their depth, the team’s wave of injuries has sidelined both Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell. Rookie Roki Sasaki has also struggled in his first big-league go-around.
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