The Los Angeles Dodgers will begin their 2024 MLB playoff run without Clayton Kershaw. And end this too.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed to reporters Saturday, hours before the team faces the San Diego Padres in the NLDS, that Kershaw has been ruled out of the entire 2024 postseason. The three-time winner The Cy Young star has been on the disabled list since August with a bone spur in his toe.
From Associated Press:
“Clayton has done everything he can to keep this going and give himself a chance to play in the postseason,” Roberts said. “But where he is now, physically, the foot, the toe just doesn’t cooperate. “It’s actually getting worse.”
Kershaw re-signed with the Dodgers last offseason. a one-year agreement loaded with incentives. The contract was signed knowing that the 36-year-old would not be ready until mid-season after undergoing shoulder surgery following the 2023 season.
He ended up making his debut on July 25 and made a total of seven starts before encountering the toe problem. Because he made seven starts, Kershaw will receive his $5 million base salary for 2024, $2.5 million in incentives and a $5 million player option for next season. He won’t receive any of his postseason bonuses, which were considerable.
The injury again raises the question of whether Kershaw has played his last game in a Dodgers uniform. Part of the reason he returned was the brutal way he finished his season last year, allowing six earned runs and getting just one out against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2024 NLDS, but this season wasn’t much better.
Kershaw posted negative bWAR and a 4.50 ERA while averaging 4.3 innings per start. It’s been five years since Kershaw qualified for the ERA title and nine since he surpassed 200 innings. Retirement could be as big a possibility for him as leaving for another team.
roberts he also said on saturday That veteran reliever Joe Kelly was left off the Dodgers’ NLDS roster after injuring his shoulder in a simulated game, leaving the team without another pitcher as it faced its NLDS rivals. In addition to Kershaw and Kelly, Los Angeles misses players like Tyler Glasnow, Gavin Stone, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Brusdar Graterol and more.
On the Padres side, the team will be without All-Star starter Joe Musgrove, who will undergo Tommy John surgery.