Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw ready to take next step in recovery, face hitters
LOS ANGELES — Almost five months after surgeries on his left foot and knee, Clayton Kershaw is ready to face hitters.
The Dodgers left-hander will throw a live batting practice session Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium before the team’s game against the Detroit Tigers.
“It’s getting there. I wouldn’t say it’s perfect. But definitely getting there,” Kershaw said of his recovery so far. “I think overall it’s good progress. I’m not going to be happy until I’m out on the mound. But I think everybody – doctors and training staff – would say I’m doing what I need to be doing.”
The three-time Cy Young Award winner has been throwing off a mound for some time now and described it as “going through spring training right now, basically.”
The foot surgery addressed a chronic problem that had bothered Kershaw for years. The pain when trying to push off from the rubber became too much last season and Kershaw had the surgery in November.
“It’s been so long since I felt normal. No, I’m just kidding,” he said when asked if he is able to push off normally again. “It feels way better than it did. It’s getting there. I don’t know if I would say it’s where I want it but it’s getting there. Overall I’m encouraged.
“Just need to learn how to pitch again. But I’ve still got a few weeks to figure it out.”
Kershaw was placed on the 60-day injured list to start the season and has said he hopes to be pitching in games – either on a rehab assignment or at the major-league level – by the time he is eligible to be activated in late May.
Kershaw said nothing has happened to change that timeline but it wasn’t “super specific” to begin with.
“The foot I think takes – I don’t even want to guess on what the timeline is like,” he said Friday. “There have been other guys who’ve had the foot surgery. But some things are always a little bit different. There’s been only one or two baseball players that have had this surgery. It’s just kind of hard to guess when it heals compared to when you feel good enough to push off a mound. Kind of the timeline I’ve said before is kind of what we’ve all decided on.”
MORE SIMULATION
Two other Dodgers pitchers – Evan Phillips and Tony Gonsolin – threw live batting practice before Friday’s workout.
Phillips is recovering from a torn ligament in the back of his shoulder, suffered during the Dodgers’ postseason run last fall. He is scheduled to face hitters again Monday in Los Angeles then join Triple-A Oklahoma City on a rehab assignment shortly after.
Gonsolin was facing hitters for the second time since recovering from a back injury late in spring suffered while he was lifting weights.
“I was squatting. I wasn’t even going heavy,” Gonsolin said of the injury. “I think it was probably slightly out of place before, and then under load, it just kind of shifted a little bit. It wasn’t too painful, but it was altering my throw, and we wanted to take a break, let it actually heal to keep the throw good.”
Gonsolin is returning from Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for the entire 2024 season. He is expected to extend to three innings the next time he faces hitters – in another live BP session in Los Angeles or at Camelback Ranch or possibly in a rehab assignment. He is also on the 60-day IL.
“I was in a really good spot,” Gonsolin said of his recovery before the back injury. “I felt like my body was feeling great. Throw felt really good. It felt really clean. Executing pitches. And then to have something like that, non-baseball-related, really sucked, honestly. I don’t really have any other words for it. But again, it’s a minor setback, and I’ll try to take this time to build back up and get into an even better position.”
IN THE HOUSE
Kiké Hernandez was not at the stadium for the home opener on Thursday after feeling ill. He was feeling better on Friday and was expected to be at the stadium for the World Series ring ceremony though he didn’t participate in the Dodgers’ pre-game workout.
“He wasn’t going to miss this one,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
UP NEXT
Tigers (RHP Reese Olson, 4-8, 3.53 ERA in 2024) at Dodgers (RHP Roki Sasaki, 0-0, 3.00 ERA), Saturday, 6:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM