Cody Snavely
OKLAHOMA CITY— The Los Angeles Dodgers are set to get another massive boost to their starting rotation, with veteran left-handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw set to return in the coming weeks. However, today was the first step.
After facing live hitters in the Dodgers Arizona facility before the team’s six-game road trip, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed that the lefty would start his minor league rehab assignment today with the Dodgers Triple-A affiliate, the Oklahoma City Comets.
Kershaw, 37, was sharp and efficient in his return to the mound, tossing three scoreless innings on thirty pitches (twenty-two strikes) while inducing a first-inning double play and collecting two strikeouts.
Kershaw’s first pitch of the day was an 86.7 mph fastball that was hit softly to centerfielder Hyeseong Kim, but as the day went on, Kershaw’s velocity increased, averaging around 87.5 mph in his short three-inning outing.
This was the first of several minor league rehab games Kershaw is expected to play after not being built up in spring training and starting the process from square one in mid-April.
Prior to the start of the 2025 regular season in Tokyo, Japan, the Dodgers transferred Kershaw to the 60-day Injured List to make room on the 40-man roster, making the lefty ineligible to return until May 17th.
In an interview with Foul Territory, while the Dodgers were still in spring training, Kershaw told hosts Alana Rizzo and A. J. Pierzynski that he was aiming for a June return, and it seems that he is well on track to make that happen.
Once Kershaw returns, he’ll be thirty-two strikeouts away from joining the 3000 strikeouts club. Despite his age and injuries, Kershaw has been elite when healthy, posting a 2.46 ERA during the 2023 season.
Kershaw has a career 2.50 ERA and a combined 79.4 bWAR, which is the most of any Dodgers player in team history, in both Brooklyn and Los Angeles.
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