Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said on Tuesday that Clayton Kershaw (back) “didn’t feel great” after throwing a simulated game over the weekend, and the team is shutting down the superstar left-hander until his pain goes away.
Clayton Kershaw “didn’t feel great” on Sunday, Dave Roberts said. He’s shut down until his back pain goes away. His return? “Uncertain.”
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) July 19, 2016
According to the Los Angeles Times, the Dodgers “had initially hoped Kershaw could pitch on either Thursday in Washington or Friday in St. Louis”.
Kershaw is the best pitcher in baseball and you could make a good case that he should even be the National League MVP to this point of the season, despite not pitching since June 26. The 28-year-old leads the majors in ERA (1.79), FIP (1.67), fewest walks per nine innings pitched (0.67)… you could go on and on. He even leads the NL (including position players) in WAR according to both Baseball Reference (5.0) and FanGraphs (5.5).
So, needless to say, this is devastating news for a 52-42 Dodgers team that is currently 5.5 games behind the San Francisco Giants in the NL West, and only one game up in the loss column for an NL Wild-Card spot. Unlike last year with Zack Greinke around, this is not a Dodgers rotation with multiple frontline starting pitchers.
Now, the Dodgers could of course look to the trade market to upgrade their rotation, but the starting pitching market is very weak right now, especially after the Boston Red Sox acquired Drew Pomeranz, and after the Oakland Athletics’ Rich Hill had to leave his last start after five pitches due to a lingering blister.
And no matter what pitcher Los Angeles were to acquire, that guy isn’t going to give you near the value Kershaw would. The Dodgers need Kershaw back, but they’re understandably going to wait until he’s pain-free before that’s the case, and it’s anyone guess as to when that will be.
