This story was excerpted from Juan Toribio’s Dodgers Beat e-newsletter. To learn the complete e-newsletter, click on right here. And subscribe to get it recurrently in your inbox.
SAN DIEGO — Lance Lynn has pitched nicely in his first two begins, however the Dodgers didn’t make a lot of a splash on the beginning pitching facet earlier than final week’s Trade Deadline.
Whether that call (and Eduardo Rodriguez declining a deal) comes again to hang-out them, can be decided by what occurs over the remainder of the season and playoffs. But the most important acquisition the Dodgers could possibly be making is getting probably first-ballot Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw again from the injured record.
Before his left shoulder harm in late June, Kershaw was the Dodgers’ finest pitcher, and one of many prime performers within the league. The left-hander has been the one fixed for the Dodgers for over a decade. When they’ve wanted him, Kershaw, as a rule, has come by way of.
That’s why it’s most likely not a shock that the Dodgers’ beginning rotation posted a 6.18 ERA in July, the worst since they moved to Los Angeles, the one month they’ve been with out Kershaw this season.
Kershaw is tentatively scheduled to make his return to the Dodgers on Thursday in opposition to the Rockies. Manager Dave Roberts wouldn’t say that definitively, however he mentioned it’s “very likely” the left-hander is again, giving the Dodgers a much-needed enhance within the rotation.
“For the team, I know that we all get excited when he takes the baseball,” Roberts mentioned. “You just feel more comfortable and confident when Kersh is active. Our hope is Thursday. As each passing day goes by, I hope that comes to pass.”
Once Kershaw returns, the Dodgers can be conscious of his workload, at the very least to begin. Kershaw isn’t going by way of a rehab task, as a substitute opting to throw two simulated video games at Dodger Stadium as a substitute.
It’s additionally paramount to maintain Kershaw recent and wholesome, given the character of a shoulder harm and the way it might linger. At this stage of the season, all of the Dodgers care about is getting their ace into October feeling wholesome.
“I think we have a good enough relationship that we talk about expectations. We have to. It’s been quite some time,” Roberts mentioned. “The most he’s thrown has been a four-inning sim game. Not in a Major League game. So all that stuff plays into the calculus, and then you layer on the game itself. But he’s a smart guy. He’s not trying to put himself in harm’s way, nor am I.”
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