Clayton Kershaw’s 18th season will officially begin this Saturday, when he takes the mound at Dodger Stadium for his first meaningful game in almost nine months.
Kershaw spent the first half of last season rehabilitating from shoulder surgery. He returned in late July, then made seven starts before pain in one of his fingers was too much to bear. While the Dodgers won a championship, Kershaw was only a spectator.
Today, joining the rotation means a bit more than before.
I think there’s more gratitude, honestly. When you haven’t done something for a long time and you realize you miss being part of a team and contributing, I think there’s a lot of gratitude and appreciation for getting back to that point. I definitely feel that. Now, if I go out and don’t pitch well, that’ll go away real quick. There’s a performance aspect to that. But I think for now, sitting on the other side, I’m super excited and grateful to get back out there.
Clayton Kershaw
Kershaw underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee and a plantar plate rupture in his left big toe in November, then signed his fourth consecutive one-year contract with the Dodgers right at the start of spring training in mid-February. At that time, the Dodgers were coming off another headline-grabbing offseason, in which they added Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki to their rotation. Kershaw’s return was considered superfluous. Now, he’s a necessity.
Snell, Sasaki, and Tyler Glasnow are currently on the injured list with shoulder issues, leaving the Dodgers with what amounts to a four-man staff that has once again required them to routinely deploy a large number of relievers instead of a traditional starter. As a result, the Dodgers’ relievers have accumulated 181 2/3 innings, the most in the league.
However, if the minor league results are any indication, Kershaw could provide a legitimate boost. In five starts with three Dodgers affiliates, Kershaw posted a 2.57 ERA with 16 strikeouts and five walks in 21 innings.
When you stop worrying about feeling bad and start worrying about performance, I think that’s when you know you’ve overcome the obstacle. Those last rehab starts, I was more concerned with pitching well and getting the guys out than how my foot felt or anything like that. I think that was a good sign for me physically.
Clayton Kershaw
Saturday’s opener, against the Los Angeles Angels, will feel different for Kershaw, for one particular reason:
Austin Barnes, one of his oldest and closest friends, will not be there.
The Dodgers essentially replaced Barnes with top prospect Dalton Rushing on Tuesday, ending an 11-year stint in which Barnes was primarily a backup catcher but made contributions both on and off the field. Kershaw pitched to Barnes for 86 of his career starts, the second-most after A.J. Ellis, his close friend and trusted catcher during the first half of his career. Kershaw pitched to Barnes 45 times from 2021 to 2024, including the playoffs, eight more than he pitched to Dodgers’ primary catcher Will Smith. His ERA with Barnes in that period (2.68) was nearly a run better than with Smith (3.65).
I think everyone was surprised. You won’t find a guy who competes better than Austin Barnes. He wants to win more than anyone and always found a way. He had some great moments for us over the years. I think people forget that he started in many playoff games, winning many games for us, getting big hits.
Clayton Kershaw
Kershaw is a long way from his days of accumulating more than 200 innings and being one of the most dominant forces in the game, but he has proven to be very effective despite losing velocity on his fastball and absorbing a large number of injuries. Among pitchers who accumulated at least 400 innings from 2020 to 2023, Kershaw’s 2.67 ERA was the second-lowest in the majors, slightly behind Max Fried’s (2.66).
Last year, with an effectiveness of 4.50 and a strikeout rate of 18%, the lowest of his career, it was an effort. But it left him just 32 strikeouts short of 3,000, a milestone that only 19 others have reached. When asked if he had thought about getting there, Kershaw smiled and said, “I’ve thought a lot about Saturday.”
I’ve thought about going back out there. I haven’t really thought much about the 3,000 strikeouts. For me, getting back on the mound is a big step. Then there’s the rest of the season.
Clayton Kershaw
