LA Dodgers Rumors about Clayton Kershaw are pretty positive. The big left-hander is calling himself “healthy” and may soon be ready to return from the disabled list. The Dodgers have been without Kershaw since July 23 due to a back injury, putting the best pitcher in baseball on the sidelines as the team makes a steady march toward another National League West title.
Clayton Kershaw was seen throwing aggressively on flat ground before the Tuesday night (August 8) game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. It’s a routine that Kershaw will continue at Chase Field on Wednesday (August 9) as well.
He will then begin working on bullpen sessions before possibly having a rehab start later this month.
When will Kershaw pitch in a game for the Dodgers again?
Previous Los Angeles Dodgers rumors had stated that manager Brian Roberts and Clayton Kershaw both felt that the ace needed four or five more starts to be ready for the 2017 MLB Playoffs. That might require Kershaw to be back on the mound at Dodger Stadium before the end of August. The team has little incentive to rush him back, though, as they are currently holding the best record in Major League Baseball.
If this was a typical situation, the Dodgers might push Kershaw to get back on the mound quickly, especially if the team was in the middle of a playoff race.
This hasn’t been a typical season, though, as the San Francisco Giants appear close to a fire sale and the NL West might be won with weeks left in the regular season. When the Dodgers swept the Miami Marlins in the middle of July, it quickly became obvious that this could be a special season for the team.
Could Kershaw still win the Cy Young Award in 2017?
In 21 starts this season, Kershaw has a 15-2 record, 2.04 ERA, and 0.884 WHIP. He leads the National League in wins and ERA, despite missing several weeks to this back injury. Before he got hurt, Kershaw was in a tight race with Max Scherzer for the National League Cy Young Award, but missing time could count against him.
As fate would have it, Scherzer ended up leaving his last start after just one inning.
The Los Angeles Dodgers currently have a 79-33 record that has the team 12-and-a-half games ahead of the Washington Nationals for the best record in the National League. The Dodgers are also 15 games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks for first place in the NL West. Not only is the team blazing a trail straight to the MLB Playoffs, but some fans are even talking about the 116-win season that the Seattle Mariners had in 2001. Can the Los Angeles Dodgers break that wins record?
