Dodgers: Is Clayton Kershaw’s DL stint the death nail?
With ace Clayton Kershaw on the disabled list, is the Dodgers season doomed?
It’s early, of course, but with the Dodgers already 7 games out of first place and 3 games under .500, is losing ace Clayton Kershaw to the disabled list the final nail that signals that 2018 is not the year for the Dodgers?
On the 30th anniversary of their last World Series victory, many thought 2018 would be a perfect time for the Dodgers to break their championship drought. However, the opening of the 2018 season has shown plenty of issues. First, third baseman and clubhouse stalwart Justin Turner fractured his wrist in the last week of spring training. He finally took his first batting practice Sunday, but he’s likely going to be out still for another 10 days or more.
Logan Forsythe moved to third to take the place of Turner, but he ended up with shoulder inflammation and is on the DL himself. That left the Dodgers infield plenty slim as it is, but the big blow this week to lose star shortstop Corey Seager for the rest of the season was huge, no matter how much depth the team had.
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On the same day as Seager’s news broke, the Dodgers placed a key cog in their rotation in 2018, Hyun-Jin Ryu on the DL with a groin injury, and he’s likely out until the middle of July. This is while opening day rotation member Rich Hill is still on the DL due to a broken fingernail on his pitching hand.
Now Sunday comes the news that Clayton Kershaw will be out with bicep tendonitis in his pitching arm. A time frame is not known at this time, but the Dodgers pitching staff without Clayton Kershaw is not going to be anywhere near the staff they are with him in the rotation.
In spite of an impressive start by Matt Kemp (.330/.367/.549, 5 HR), the offense has struggled, sitting around league average, especially in the power department.
The pitching has been the thing holding the ship together so far, but the two best starters have been Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu, who have combined for a 2.57 ERA, 73 2/3 innings, and a 20/84 BB/K ratio. Walker Buehler has thrown well in his two starts since coming up, but he’s still a rookie.
Next: Dodgers make right decision on Buehler
The Dodgers have had a rough start to open the season, and just when they have possibly their brightest moment of the season with Saturday’s no-hitter, the hammer comes down with the news Sunday of Clayton Kershaw’s injury.