Clayton Kershaw was all smiles as he walked from the house bullpen at Dodger Stadium to the third-base dugout Tuesday.
“One other one down,” he stated, to nobody specifically, surrounded by a bunch of reporters.
Quickly, the remainder of the Dodgers’ employees gathered on the mound for pitchers’ fielding apply. Kershaw, who’s nonetheless making incremental progress in his rehabilitation from shoulder surgical procedure, didn’t must take part. However that’s not the one motive he was smiling.
“Ticked up with the rate, felt good, free and straightforward, actually encouraging,” Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts stated of Kershaw’s second bullpen session within the final week. “He’s in a great temper. Had a number of eyeballs on him. Actually good day.”
Roberts stated that Kershaw’s 20-pitch session consisted completely of fastballs and sinkers.
“If you really feel good, your physique feels good, then in places you in a significantly better temper. So he’s in a great spot,” Roberts stated of Kershaw. “Simply the sensation of being free right now — simple, letting him throw the ball as exhausting as he can with out having ache.”
The novel nature of Kershaw’s surgical procedure (glenohumeral ligament and capsule repair) has made his timetable for return particularly exhausting to mission. Kershaw initially hoped to be throwing off a mound six months after the process final November and he met that that concentrate on — to the day — just last Friday.
Ideally, Kershaw will see his velocity improve, broaden his pitch combine, and progress to longer bullpen periods every time he throws. Most of that progress is but to return as he eyes a return later this season.
The three-time Cy Younger Award winner is coming off a 2023 season wherein he led the staff in begins (24) and innings (131.2) regardless of battling shoulder issues late within the yr. He re-signed with the Dodgers on Feb. 9, and his subsequent mound look will give him 17 seasons in a Dodger uniform.
Tuesday’s bullpen session introduced Kershaw one step nearer to that exceptional milestone.
Photograph Credit score: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports activities
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