Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw undergoes shoulder surgery, says he hopes to return next summer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw completed shoulder surgery Friday and expects to be sidelined until next summer.

The 35-year-old wrote in a social media post that the surgery was performed with Dodgers head team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache, was intended to repair the glenohumeral ligaments and his shoulder capsule. There are three glenohumeral ligaments and these strengthen the joint capsule.

“I am hopeful that I will be able to play again sometime next summer,” he wrote. “Thank you for your prayers!”

Kershaw was sidelined for six weeks with the shoulder injury, which hampered him in the final few months of the season. Neither he nor the team ever said much over his shoulder during the season.

He threw no more than 5 1/3 innings after coming off the injured list in mid-August. Then he was hit hard by Arizona in the NL Division Series, tagged for six runs before getting an out in the first inning of the worst start of his career.

The Dodgers lost for the second straight year in the NLDS and were swept by the D-backs.

Kershaw is a free agent for the third year in a row. He signed one-year deals each of the last two years to stay with the Dodgers, the only team he has pitched for since starting his career in 2008.

“I’m not sure what it’s going to look like,” Kershaw said of his future plans at the end of the season.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said the team “absolutely” wants the three-time Cy Young Award winner back. He will turn 36 in March.

“The ball is completely in their court,” Friedman said, referring to Kershaw and his wife Ellen.