Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw Opens Up About Difficult Recovery From Surgery

The greatest offseason in baseball is almost over for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

After picking and choosing different talents the team believes will help in its quest to become the first back-to-back champions in MLB in a quarter century, the move that caused Dodgers fans to let out a sigh of relief has been made.

Clayton Kershaw is back.

The longest tenured Dodger looks to step into his 18th season, but a bevy of injuries held him to just 30 innings last year and he did not make the postseason roster. The three-time Cy Young winner finally spoke on what his recovery was like as he makes his way back in 2025.

“Honestly, the foot surgery’s been hard. It’s not a fun surgery,” said Kershaw. “It’s just not an easy process. Walking’s been hard and all that stuff, but I finally started to turn the corner a few weeks ago. Being able to throw and all those things … it hasn’t felt this way in a while, so it’s good. The knee’s been fine. So really within the last month, I kind of knew I was going to turn the corner.”

Kershaw also talked about how debilitating this sort of recovery was compared to upper-body injuries.

“With a shoulder, you can still walk and do a lot of stuff. I was back to being a normal dad pretty quick,” Kershaw said. “Being on crutches, being in a boot, having every step kind of hurt, it was hard. I don’t know if I expected all that foot surgery entails, but thankful now to kind of be on the other side. I feel like I’m getting closer to being 100 percent.”

With a pitching staff as stacked as ever, Los Angeles will gladly welcome a healthy Kershaw. Hopefully he logs more than 30 innings while also sharing his knowledge and expertise to the arms in the starting rotation.

In his 17 seasons, all with the Dodgers, Kershaw has three Cy Young awards, a National League MVP, 10 All-Star appearances, a pitching Triple Crown, a Gold Glove award, and two World Series rings.

Photo Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports

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