Dodgers Make Major Announcement About Star Pitcher’s Return

The rich keep getting richer, especially for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

LA announced that veteran superstar starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw will make his season debut Saturday in the middle game of the Dodgers’ Freeway Series against the Angels.

Despite Kershaw starting the year on the shelf, and having three other starters on the injured list (Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Roki Sasaki), the Dodgers lead the highly competitive National League West are a half-game back of the Mets and Tigers for the MLB’s best record at 27-15.

Kershaw, the 2014 NL MVP and three-time Cy Young winner, has made just seven starts over the past two years and is recovering from lower-body injuries to his knee and toe.

Much Needed Relief

The Dodgers sit on their familiar perch atop the NL West. But if you look under the hood, you might see some flaws that Kershaw can help clear up.

LA’s offense has been on another level, but its pitching has been pedestrian through the season’s first quarter — even though it leads the majors in saves (16).

The Dodgers rank 16th in the majors in team ERA (4.00) and 17th in team WHIP (1.30). Second-year starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the only starting pitcher with four-plus starts and an ERA below 4.

If you include Shohei Ohtani, who is still recovering from Tommy John surgery, Los Angeles has four starters on the injured list. The Dodgers still won the World Series without Kershaw, Ohtani, Snell, Glasnow AND Dustin May (1-3, 4.08 ERA) in 2024, but trying to repeat without them all is a taller order.

So all that should make Kershaw’s presence a sight for sore eyes, even if the 38-year-old isn’t quite the same as the lefty in his prime.

“It’s a big shot in the arm,” manager Dave Roberts said, according to the Associated Press.  “Clayton has worked really hard to get healthy and the bar is high for him. He doesn’t want to just come back to be active. He wants to be come back and help us win baseball games and be good. I know he’s excited to contribute.”

Still, Kershaw himself wants to be more than just a regular-season arm — or a good teammate.

“I’m tired of taking up space,” Kershaw told the AP. “I want to contribute and help the team out.”

History In The Making

Kershaw is by far the longest-tenured player on the Dodgers roster, and his return will also mark history — which is rare in an organization like LA’s.

When Kershaw takes the hill Saturday night, he’ll pull even with Zack Wheat and Bill Russell for the longest-tenured player in the history of the organization.

Kershaw already surpassed Don Sutton for the longest-tenured pitcher in Dodgers history in 2022. But when he signed a one-year, $7.5 million contract in the offseason, Kershaw also earned the opportunity to pull even with Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals for longest tenured pitcher with one team in the history of the National League.

Injuries may doom any chance of Kershaw reaching 19 — or even 20 full seasons with the Dodgers. But the record for longest-tenured pitcher with one team in MLB history belongs to Walter Johnson (21) of the Washington Senators.

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