Subscribe
Follow Us
With only 28 games left in the regular season, the Los Angeles Dodgers can ill-afford an injury to one of its most important players. However, since this is the 2024 Dodgers we're talking about, going through injury problems, particularly to their starting pitchers, is simply a routine occurrence.
On Friday night, veteran southpaw Clayton Kershaw, who has already gone through his fair share of injuries in 2024, had to exit the game in the bottom of the second inning after just 27 pitches due to a big-toe injury.
It's unclear just how severe this big-toe injury is for Kershaw, but the Dodgers deemed it to be serious enough to the point of having to prevent him from going any further in their contest against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Kershaw allowed three earned runs in his one inning of work and was promptly relieved from the game by Joe Kelly.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw exited tonight's game with left big toe pain, the team announced.pic.twitter.com/EDIndf87x3
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 31, 2024
Prior to Friday night, Clayton Kershaw had only made six starts this season for the Dodgers. Kershaw made his season debut late in the season, pitching his first start back on July 25. This was because Kershaw underwent shoulder-repair surgery back in November, keeping him out to begin the year.
There was optimism that Kershaw could return in June, but he was shut down while in the middle of his rehab process after experiencing lingering pain in his shoulder. The Dodgers have been very cautious with the 36-year-old lefty this season, always giving him five full days of rest in between starts, so it will be a concern to see him have to exit a game this early.
On the season, Kershaw has been very solid for the Dodgers. His toe-injury-shortened start aside, he has put up a 3.72 ERA this season across 29 innings of work (six starts). That number will balloon to a 4.50 ERA following his rough outing against the Diamondbacks.
Dodgers' injury woes continue
The Dodgers have assembled for themselves one of the most stacked rosters in MLB history. But rarely, if ever, has the team's preferred 26-man roster been healthy at the same time. They have lost production to the injured list more than any other team in the majors, and Clayton Kershaw's latest injury scare only serves to make this problem worse for LA.
At present, the Dodgers have two rotation fixtures still sitting in the injured list. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow appear to be progressing well in their recovery from a triceps and elbow injury, respectively, so at the very least, help is on the way.
Nevertheless, the Dodgers don't just have top-shelf talent on the roster, they also have some impressive depth that has allowed them to not just stay afloat but reign supreme in the NL West still. Even with their current injuries, the Dodgers are going to trot out Jack Flaherty, Walker Buehler, Gavin Stone, and Bobby Miller in the starting rotation — a solid enough quartet.
But the Dodgers will still be hoping that Kershaw is only experiencing big-toe pain in isolation, not as a symptom of an even more severe injury.
They will need his battle-tested arm to ward off the Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres in the NL West standings, and they will want him on the active roster come postseason time, especially when he'll be raring to bounce back from his poor showing last year.
