Clayton Kershaw returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers during the offseason on a one-year contract that includes a player option for 2025.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner is back with the organization for a 17th season but faces a long recovery after undergoing surgery to repair the glenohumeral ligaments and capsule in his left shoulder.
Kershaw plans to be with the Dodgers for most of their homestands as he goes through the process, but the team is allowing him to complete the bulk of his rehab at his home in Texas.
Kershaw has been making progress in his recovery, and things seem to be trending in the right direction, despite the differnt feeling of it all, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“It feels different in a good way, for sure. So far,” he said. “There’s soreness and stiffness and all that stuff from surgery which I think is pretty normal. I still have that every now and then. The stuff I had before — it’s different for sure. That’s about as specific as I’ll get.”
Kershaw recently advanced to the stage of throwing bullpen sessions, and that may soon advance to facing live hitters as long as he continues to recover well.
From there, Kershaw will need roughly a month, if not a little longer, to build up his arm in rehab starts. The expectation remains he will return sometime around late-July or August.
Despite dealing with the significant shoulder injury during the second half of the 2023 season, Kershaw still finished the year 13-5 with a 2.46 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in 24 starts.
Clayton Kershaw ‘felt wanted’ by Dodgers
The Dodgers maintained hope throughout the offseason that Kershaw would return to the only organization he has known. The future Hall of Famer was appreciative of the club’s interest and giving him all the time he needed to make a decision.
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