A few days ago, the Dodgers shut down ace Clayton Kershaw with what manager Dave Roberts termed an “arm kind of thing.” Kershaw had two lackluster bullpen sessions, so the Dodgers shut him down for a bit.
Kershaw played catch today, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times reports. According to Roberts, Kershaw “didn’t feel great.” Roberts added, “Might be a day or two before he picks it up again.” The club currently has no plans to have Kershaw undergo an MRI.
Kershaw, 30, has had trouble staying healthy in recent years, last surpassing 27 starts in a season back in 2015. He’s dealt mostly with back issues, but given his age, career workload, and recent spate of injury problems, arm issues don’t come as much of a surprise.
The Dodgers added A.J. Pollock and Russell Martin during the offseason while leaving the rotation virtually unchanged. In the event Kershaw isn’t ready to start the regular season, the Dodgers will be relying on Walker Buehler, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda, Julio Urías, and Ross Stripling -- not exactly a crew known for durability.
