Lefty Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers have reportedly reached a deal for the upcoming 2024 season. The 35-year-old veteran is expected to complete a physical by week’s end, at which time the club will announce the signing. Thursday is the first day that MLB teams can assign players to the 60-day injured list, meaning the Dodgers can make the move official without needing a 40-man roster spot.
By now, most fans have dismissed the perennial rumors that Kershaw would consider his hometown Rangers as a potential suitor. Today’s deal indicates the southpaw legend will likely finish his career in Los Angeles, a place in history he began carving out back in 2008.
Early indications are that the deal is for one year with a player option for 2025, creating the possibility that Kershaw and Shohei Ohtani could conceivably be in the same rotation.
As it stands, many pundits feel that Kershaw could rejoin the team sometime around the 2024 All-Star break. Despite being one of the few last starting pitchers standing for the club’s playoff run in 2023, the 6-foot-4, 225-pounder missed about six weeks from late July through mid-August that prompted him to undergo shoulder surgery in November.
While Kershaw himself may not stress its importance, he’s only 56 strikeouts away from 3,000, a feat that only 19 other MLB pitchers have accomplished. Depending on if and when Kershaw returns, hitting the milestone is certainly achievable.
Although he persevered through multiple injuries in 2023, Kershaw still made 24 starts, his most since making 28 back in 2019. Last year, he posted a 2.46 ERA with a 1.063 WHIP and 137 punchouts over 131-2/3 innings of work. His velocity was down significantly, as his heater often topped out at a mere 89 miles per hour. It should be interesting to see if the surgery improves his velocity and spin rate from what we saw in 2023.
Kershaw could be an X-factor for the Dodgers around the 2024 trade deadline, joining young righty Dustin May as a late-summer addition to the team. Early reports have already suggested that righty Walker Buehler could have a delay to his 2024 start due to an innings limit.
As it stands, the current rotation of the club will feature Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Bobby Miller, James Paxton and either Emmet Sheehan, Gavin Stone or Landon Knack.
Over 16 big league seasons, Kershaw has compiled a first-ballot Hall of Fame career with a 210-92 record and a remarkable 2.48 ERA in over 2,700 innings pitched.