LOS ANGELES — With just seven starts to his credit the past two seasons and none since Aug. 30 of last year, Clayton Kershaw will get back on the Dodger Stadium mound on Saturday night to face the Angels.
The sure-fire Hall of Famer, who is the franchise’s all-time strikeout leader, is finally set to return following left toe surgery as well as knee surgery.
“I’m tired of taking up space,” Kershaw told 570 AM’s David Vassegh on Tuesday’s radio pregame show. “I want to contribute and help the team out.”
The 37-year-old, who announced his intention to return during the World Series last year, is 212-94 in his career with a 2.50 ERA in 432 appearances (429 starts) and is 32 strikeouts away from reaching 3,000 in his storied career.
“I’ve been watching the games on TV,” Kershaw said. “It’s a great team and 40 games in, you can see a lot of things that are going really well. I just want to be a part of it.”
He signed a one-year, $7.5 million contract in February that includes assorted performance bonuses.
“It’s great; it’s a big shot in the arm,” Manager Dave Roberts said not long before right-hander Roki Sasaki was placed on the injured list with arm soreness. “Clayton has worked really hard to get healthy, and the bar is high for him so he doesn’t want to just come back to be active. He wants to come back and help us win baseball games and be good.
“I know he’s excited to contribute. Just getting No. 22 back in the rotation is a huge shot in the arm of our ballclub.”
It is not just a boost, it is a necessity with both left-hander Blake Snell and right-hander Tyler Glasnow already on the injured list with shoulder inflammation. And just before Tuesday’s game, Sasaki went on the IL with a right shoulder impingement.
In five minor-league rehab appearances, Kershaw went 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA and had 16 strikeouts with five walks in 21 innings. In three starts at Triple-A Oklahoma City alone, he had a 3.75 ERA with eight strikeouts in 12 innings.
“Anytime you get people out, I think that’s important,” he said. “That’s why I enjoy going to Triple-A. These guys are all good hitters and they’re on the cusp of being major leaguers. It’s good to get that feedback.”
Roberts said that even on the rehab assignment, the familiar Kershaw magic was back. On the days when the three-time Cy Young Award winner did not have his best pitch arsenal, like his most recent outing Sunday against Albuquerque when he walked two in four innings with two hits allowed, he gave up just two runs.
“… He still was very efficient,” Roberts said. “With Clayton just being back, I think it just adds an element of certainty and kind of performance. So I’m not too concerned about anything outside of getting outs and that’s kind of the message that I told him when I talked to him today.”
ONE MORE STARTER DOWN
Sasaki’s shoulder discomfort was a factor in his struggles Friday night in Arizona when he allowed five runs on five hits with two walks over four innings against the Diamondbacks.
“Physically, he was a little bit sore afterwards, and that’s something that we’re still kind of trying to figure out,” Roberts said about an hour before Sasaki went on the IL. “What’s normal? What’s kind of not normal? We want to make sure that he’s in a good spot, physically and mentally.”
Sasaki, 23, is 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA over his first eight major league starts after arriving from Japan on a minor league deal after receiving a $6.5 million signing bonus.
J.P Feyereisen returned from Triple-A to replace Sasaki on the roster after he was sent down last Wednesday when Landon Knack was recalled.
HEALING PROCESS
Snell was set to undergo one more examination with Roberts hopeful that the left-hander will begin a throwing program on Wednesday. Snell was signed this past offseason to a five-year, $182 million deal and has made just two starts, while going 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA.
Glasnow has already started a flat-ground throwing program as he moves toward getting on the mound for a bullpen session. Roberts hopes to have a clearer plan for the right-hander at some point during the homestand.
Both veteran starters are on the IL with shoulder inflammation. Glasnow missed last year’s playoffs with an elbow injury.
Utility man Tommy Edman (ankle) and outfielder Teoscar Hernandez (groin) will take the next step in their recoveries when they face right-hander Emmet Sheehan in live batting practice Wednesday. Sheehan is recovering from Tommy John surgery last year.
UP NEXT
A’s (RHP Gunnar Hoglund, 1-0, 2.38 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 4-3, 1.80 ERA), Wednesday, 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM