Clayton Kershaw is 37 years old, but don't tell that to the minor leaguers he's been dominating on his rehab assignment.
In his latest start, the longtime Dodgers ace pitched six no-hit innings, allowing just one baserunner via walk. Sure, the start took place at the rookie-level ACL, but Kershaw pushed his pitch count into the 80s and has similarly shut down Triple-A hitters in his previous rehab starts.
The southpaw is recovering from surgery on multiple body parts, including his left shoulder, knee and toe. The latter has been giving him the most trouble in recovery thus far.
Kershaw will be permitted to rejoin the Dodgers on May 17th, and all signs point to him returning to L.A. as soon as he is eligible.
Clayton Kershaw set to return to Los Angeles Dodgers as No. 5 starter
Now, it is worth noting that Kershaw isn't quite the same pitcher who dominated the mid-2010s with unrivaled success. He threw just 30.0 innings last season, by far the fewest in his career. His ERA of 4.50 was also the highest mark of his career and two full runs above his career average.
However, the legendary southpaw was an All-Star as recently as 2023, when he logged a 2.46 ERA (4.03 FIP) and 137 strikeouts in 131 2/3 innings. He hasn't completed more than 150 innings in a season since 2019, but 2024 was the first time (save for the 2020 pandemic-shortened season) in his career that he fell short of 100 IP.
Notably, Kershaw is just 32 strikeouts away from 3,000. More than likely, he'll get there this year, and it'll be a while before anyone else joins him in that exclusive club (Chris Sale and Gerrit Cole are the closest among active pitchers, and it's no sure thing either pitches long enough to reach 3,000 punchouts).
Of course, more so than the impending history, Kershaw' return matters for the Dodgers. The team came into the season with perhaps the most feared rotation in recent baseball history, but a wave of injuries has all but wiped out their enviable depth.
As of May 8, the Dodgers' injured list of pitchers looks like a contender's rotation all on their own: Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are on the 15-day IL, while Kershaw, Kyle Hurt, River Ryan, Emmet Sheehan, and Gavin Stone are all on the 60-day IL. Considering relievers Brusdar Graterol, Michael Grove, Michael Kopech, and Blake Treinen are also all on the 60-day IL, it's almost a miracle that the Dodgers are in first place in the NL West.
Currently, the Dodgers' rotation consists of Yoshinobu Yamamoto (who is SHOVING this year), Roki Sasaki, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, and Landon Knack. The latter has a 7.27 ERA in 8 2/3 innings this year, and will certainly be displaced by Kershaw once the veteran lefty is healthy.
Even if Kershaw falls short of replicating his 2023 success, just having him around as a No. 5 starter will make the Dodgers even more unfair than they already are. And once Glasnow and Snell return to the mound — not to mention Shohei Ohtani — Los Angeles should start pulling away from the best division in the sport.