6:06pm: Manager Dave Roberts suggests that there’s at least a preliminary expectation that Kershaw will miss over a month of action, Moura tweets.
5:22pm: Star Dodgers hurler Clayton Kershaw returned from the disabled list to start yesterday, but he’s now headed right back to the shelf, as Pedro Moura of The Athletic was among those to indicate on Twitter and the team has now announced. Kershaw has been diagnosed with a lower back strain, as Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times tweets.
It’s really not surprising to hear that Kershaw will need at least at least a brief additional respite. He reported a tight back yesterday that required an MRI and kept him from traveling with the club. During his five innings of action, Kershaw never topped 90 mph with his fastball, which is hardly a promising sign.
At the moment, there’s no firm indication as to the seriousness of Kershaw’s new injury concern. His prior DL stint this year was for biceps tendinitis, but he has dealt with back troubles in the past two years, including a five-week absence last year for an injury with the same description as this one. Until we learn more, though, there’s no way to know how long Kershaw will be down. And the length of the absence will surely be tied to his progress.
Kershaw is hardly the Dodgers’ only injured starter, which complicates matters in the near term. The club just brought up youngster Dennis Santana for his first taste of the majors to help account for the missing arms. Now, righty Brock Stewart will be recalled to take the open spot on the active roster.
Yeah, don’t expect him to opt out after this season.
I watched game yesterday and he really looked feeble when he came to bat. He grimaced after his last swing. Why does it seem that all of these high cost pitchers get hurt. Sad, great pitcher.
Good, perhaps this will keep the dogturds in 4th or the Pads will surpass them and bump the turds to last place in the nlw.
I’m not a Dodgers fan at all… but hoping for a man to be injured so another team can win a baseball game is very low class.
Kershaw’s net worth is nine digits. I’m sure he doesn’t care.
I didn’t say I was hoping he was injured, your words not mine. All I said is him being on the dl is good for the rest of the division, which it is.
Who said I wished him to be injured? All I said was it’s good for the rest of the division when he’s on the dl, which it is lol
If you’re trying to justify your low class comments after being called out, you just might be low class. How far is your team going to get if you’d prefer to play other teams without their best player.
Some people are baseball fans and some are not.
jelous of the Dodgers?.Dont forget they made their move last year while he was on the DL…turd….
Donny Baseballs career was never the same because of back problems. Larry Legends career was cut short because of back ailments, and the Celtics suffered for it. Add up all the time that Kershaw has been on the DL over the last few years and it’s over 150 days. Should the Dodgers really think about this season being a lost year? Seager and now more bad news with this, plus the Dodgers have huge holes on that pitching staff. If the Dodgers some how do make the playoffs how far could they really go?
They went 5-1 vs the Nationals. Theres also no clear superteam sitting in the NL, which makes it more wide open. Remeber they won the NLCS without Seager.
I don’t agree because it’s 10 day DL. If it was 60 day DL, you might have a point. But then again, this is the Dodgers. Don’t take their DL moves at face value.
Wanted to add another Larry, 4pt play Larry Johnson. think back problems derailed his career to retirement.
So what Is trying to say is, I’m optimistic when it comes to Kershaw. Last year he was out a big chunk of the season, came back for playoffs: Kershaw was 3-0 with a 3.82 ERA in 5GS.
Too many doom and gloom comments, regards to Kershaw’s long-term. Kershaw’s one of my favorite pitchers, so maybe I’m being too optimistic. This whole injury, next availability is a giant unknown.
Larry Johnson did succumb to back injuries but sure was fun to watch during college and those first 4-5 pro seasons after UNLV.
Dodgers said this morning that he will be out a month or more.
how in the hell can there be 5 downs when it’s true…fing dodger fans
That’s the “preliminary expectation.” They also said the MRI found no structural issues, but that begs the question. How can a medical problem be this chronic and not have a structural source? Some things about Kershaw’s back problems do not add up. Never have.
“Look… just because it’s true doesn’t mean you should SAY it.”
Teams better be worried about this back issue come free agency. Maybe you build in an opt out or two for the team and player based on games started or innings pitched?
I always wondered if his pitching motion impacts/affects his back. It’s gotta suck because he’s close on everything – WS capable team, last big contract, remaining prime years for HOF career.
Teheran for Turner. Please, can we send Teheran someplace? Anyplace? Anyone?
Does this picture represent him leaving the disabled list and going right back on it?
If this is the disc again, his career is likely over for all intents and purposes. Never something you want to see happen from a player that is arguably the best pitcher of our era.
They have made a point in saying its more like 2017 injury and not the disc. And how would his career be over anyways smh.
They said that he would be out a month and that it was his back again.
“Manager Dave Roberts described the latest iteration as “comparable to last year” and suggested Kershaw would miss at least a month.”
“He missed 5 weeks last year after the disk flared up.”
“A herniated disk in 2016 sidelined Kershaw for 10 weeks and sounded the first alarm about his long-term viability.”
If the disc is seriously injured and it requires surgery he would never be the same if he was able to pitch at all. That would be disheartening. I have loved watching him pitch and would hate to see that. Kershaw is arguably the best pitcher of the era and you want to remember him at his best.
Last year the disk did not flair up. If it did he would have not been able to come back. It was inflammation which is what it is now. Personally i think he should have surgery if possible in the offseason to try and give a once and for all solution. But i would not think for 1 second he couldn’t come back and be decent
Why wait for the offseason?
Just goes to show, no matter how amazing a pitcher looks, they aren’t invincible and will eventually fall victim to aging and injury.
This will be a very intriguing situation moving forward. Will he and the Dodgers agree to stay together, and if he were to opt out, how many teams will be willing to pay for him given his recent injuries and elite hitters on the market who are more of a sure thing?
its really good news for the dodgers, who will give damaged pitcher, no matter how great he was big money…
This season more than any other will test the depth of their system. I don’t see LAD winning the division, but this winter promises to be very interesting since they’ll reset their luxury tax. I don’t see the Dodgers bringing back any of their pending free agents (though Barnes’ struggles may prompt them to consider extending Grandal), and they’ll eat as much of Hill’s contract as necessary to move him. They’ll need at least one OF, 2B, C, 2 SPs, and bullpen arms. They’ll have money to spend, so it will be intriguing to see what they do. Oh, and Kershaw won’t even think about opting out.
The strange thing about this division right now is based on run differential the Dodgers should be in first place. The Dodgers are +26 in third tied with the Giants who at -45 should be dead last. Rockies are -20 but still in first. The main reasons for this topsy-turvy situation is the Dodgers bullpen is losing a lot of close games.
I don’t see the Dodgers winning the division either, because they can’t fix their main deficiency without exceeding the luxury tax threshold or trading away big pieces of the future. This is why I have been saying for over a month now that they should be sellers. Everybody who doesn’t fit into next year’s plan should go and hit the free agent market hard this winter. Not a rebuild, but a reset.
I suppose the FO isn’t there yet but I would prefer them to be realistic rather than hoping for a miracle that probably isn’t coming.
True but at least in the giants case typically they win by a single run but when the lose they have had some blowouts – thus the lopsided run differential
As a Giants fan completely bummed Kershaw can’t get healthy , I love it when Bum and Kershaw are at their best.
Look at the NL West and I don’t know if I have ever seen a situation where most teams have lost their 1-3 starters at a minimum – Dodgers lost the entire staff.
COLORADO is the only team to dodge the starter implosion on the NL West
Winning a handful of games by a bunch of runs but losing more by small margins is how the Dodgers got upside down. Not that those games don’t count, but the point being, over the course of a season, run differential is a solid predictor of W-L records. A third of the way through the season a number of teams are underperforming or over-performing their run differentials, but only in the NLW would the standings be very different based on run differential projections. It’s a very weird situation.