Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw admits he was ‘a little uneasy’ about elbow pain – OCRegister

DENVER — Clayton Kershaw has dealt with plenty of injuries in recent seasons.

But those were related to his back for the most part with some shoulder issues mixed in. When his pitching elbow started bothering him earlier this month, that was a first.

“I really haven’t had many elbow things before,” the Dodgers left-hander said Saturday. “It wasn’t like a one-pitch deal. It’s something that’s been building over time. It was good to get a good bill of health from an MRI, for sure.

“I wasn’t, I don’t want to say nervous. But I’d never really had any elbow stuff. So it was a little uneasy, I guess.”

Kershaw has been shut down from throwing since a brief catch session last weekend. He won’t start a throwing program until some time next week and won’t pitch again until some time in August, giving him at least a month off in the middle of a season that has seen the Dodgers’ starting rotation taxed by injury and the additional workload caused by the return to a 162-game schedule.

“I think everybody wants me to be back as fast as possible. But I also want to be as good as I can be in October too,” he said. “So just kind of playing that game, trying to figure out the best timing for everything. It’s not an exact science. But I think we’re on the right page.”

Last October might have been Kershaw’s most effective. He had a 2.93 ERA in five postseason starts (four Dodger wins), held batters to a .211 average and struck out 37 in 30 2/3 innings.

It also is probably no coincidence that Kershaw’s successful fall followed a shortened season in which he threw just 58 1/3 innings in 10 starts. He is already nearly 50 innings beyond that this season with his heaviest workload before the All-Star break since 2017.

“There’s definitely a lot of injuries this year. That’s for sure,” Kershaw said of the move back to 162 games after a shortened schedule in 2020. “Who knows if this was because of that or not? I felt great. Then just one thing happens. It’s hard to keep everything going for a full season sometimes. But no one is going to be able to tell you it’s because we went to 162 games or not. I don’t know. But it’s probably contributing some especially with some of the soft-tissue injuries around the league. It could just be from overuse, for sure. That’s part of it.”

Kershaw said he wouldn’t venture to guess how long it will take him to build back up once he starts throwing. But he does have a date circled on his calendar for when he will be back in the Dodgers’ rotation.

“I do, yeah,” he said, declining to share that date. “Absolutely.”

KNEBEL COMEBACK

Right-hander Corey Knebel has not pitched since April due to a lat strain behind his pitching shoulder. But Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he is scheduled to throw a simulated game on Monday — 15 to 18 pitches — either in Los Angeles or at Camelback Ranch in Arizona.

Knebel will repeat the sim-game process, building up to the 25-pitch neighborhood with an “up-and-down” session where he pitches the equivalent of more than one inning. A rehab assignment is likely after that but Roberts would not put a timetable on Knebel’s potential return.

“Things are trending in the right direction,” Roberts said Saturday.

“It’s been awhile obviously since he’s pitched. The buildup (for) a reliever isn’t much. But I think there’s a couple, two, three sim games. There’s gotta be an up-and-down where he faces live hitters, 25 pitches. I expect him in LA at some point during the homestand so our guys here can put eyes on him. But Corey’s done a fantastic job. Right now I just want him to get through that sim game on Monday and see where we’re at.”

SEAGER STATUS

Injured shortstop Corey Seager took seven at-bats in a simulated game at Camelback Ranch on Saturday though he didn’t play defense. According to Roberts, Seager “swung the bat well,” hit a home run and had a couple other hits.

Seager will participate in the simulated game, batting against Knebel on Monday “and we’ll know more” about when Seager will be activated.

UP NEXT

Dodgers (LHP David Price 4-0, 3.23 ERA) at Rockies (RHP Jon Gray 6-6, 3.77 ERA) Sunday 12:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM