Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw Throws Second Bullpen Session
Clayton Kershaw was all smiles as he walked from the home bullpen at Dodger Stadium to the third-base dugout Tuesday.
“Another one down,” he said, to no one in particular, surrounded by a group of reporters.
Soon, the rest of the Dodgers’ staff gathered on the mound for pitchers’ fielding practice. Kershaw, who’s still making incremental progress in his rehabilitation from shoulder surgery, did not have to participate. But that’s not the only reason he was smiling.
“Ticked up with the velocity, felt good, free and easy, really encouraging,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Kershaw’s second bullpen session in the last week. “He’s in a good mood. Had a lot of eyeballs on him. Really good day.”
Roberts said that Kershaw’s 20-pitch session consisted entirely of fastballs and sinkers.
“When you feel good, your body feels good, then in puts you in a much better mood. So he’s in a good spot,” Roberts said of Kershaw. “Just the feeling of being free today — easy, letting him throw the ball as hard as he can without having pain.”
The novel nature of Kershaw’s surgery (glenohumeral ligament and capsule repair) has made his timetable for return especially hard to project. Kershaw initially hoped to be throwing off a mound six months after the procedure last November and he met that that target — to the day — just last Friday.
Ideally, Kershaw will see his velocity increase, expand his pitch mix, and progress to longer bullpen sessions each time he throws. Most of that progress is yet to come as he eyes a return later this season.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner is coming off a 2023 season in which he led the team in starts (24) and innings (131.2) despite battling shoulder problems late in the year. He re-signed with the Dodgers on Feb. 9, and his next mound appearance will give him 17 seasons in a Dodger uniform.
Tuesday’s bullpen session brought Kershaw one step closer to that remarkable milestone.
Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
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