Putting their ace and reigning NL Cy Young Award winner on the disabled list can’t be how the Dodgers imagined starting the 2014 season.
The team placed Clayton Kershaw on the 15-day DL Saturday after he felt discomfort in his upper back while throwing. (He was playing catch, not throwing off a mound.) The left-hander had already been scratched from his scheduled start Sunday and had been pushed back to pitch in the Dodgers’ home opener on Friday. Hyun-Jin Ryu will now start in his place.
Clayton Kershaw is on DL for first time in his career, one start into his $215-million contract. #Dodgers
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) March 30, 2014
“Right now it’s just not getting better fast enough,” Kershaw told reporters, including the Los Angeles Times‘ Steve Dilbeck. “I really don’t know [what caused Saturday’s setback], other than I tried to throw harder today and felt it. So I’m going to have to take a step back a little bit.”
Kershaw can be activated from the DL on April 7, as the Dodgers were allowed to make the move retroactive to March 23 because of the team’s series in Australia versus the D-Backs. With five off-days during the first 15 days of the season, the Dodgers have several opportunities to shuffle their pitching rotation around and give Kershaw more time to recover, if needed. It’s possible he could rest until April 19, the first time the Dodgers need to use a fifth starter.
