Kershaw to throw simulated game, could return to Dodgers soon
Having worked their way out of their early-season funk and back into the NL West race, the Los Angeles Dodgers are getting news the rest of the division doesn't want to hear.
Clayton Kershaw appears close to returning.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters before his team's home game against San Francisco on Saturday that Kershaw will throw a simulated game Tuesday or Wednesday. It is expected to last three or four innings.
The plan, according to reports, would be for Kershaw to follow that up with a bullpen session, then a rehab start. If all goes well, he would rejoin the Dodgers. This comes after an extended bullpen session of about 55 pitches on Friday.
Kershaw, 30, has been out since May 31 with back stiffness. That start was his first since May 1 as he missed more than four weeks with biceps tendinitis. This is also the second straight season in which Kershaw has gone down with back issues.
"He's trying to relearn his body," Roberts said Saturday, "whether it be alignment, whether it be the health of the back. He's never been a mechanics-driven guy, really has never really thought too much about mechanics throughout his career. Just having things synced up with his delivery, he's kind of not there yet. And so he and [pitching coach Rick Honeycutt] are working through that."
Kershaw is 1-4 with a 2.76 ERA with 53 strikeouts and 11 walks in 49 innings pitched this season. The velocity on his fastball has been noticeably down this season, as well.
Also on Saturday, the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City reported the Dodgers have signed former Phillies pitcher Drew Hutchison to a minor league deal. Hutchison, 27, was 1-1 with a 4.64. ERA in 21 1/3 innings out of the bullpen with the Phillies this season. He was designated for assignment May 31 and rejected the assignment.
--Field Level Media
