LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw’s first competitive game in 7 1/2 months went as well as the Dodgers could have hoped after the veteran breezed through three innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday afternoon.
In his first rehab outing since offseason surgery on his left big toe and left knee, Kershaw delivered three scoreless innings, allowing two hits with no walks and two strikeouts against the Tacoma Rainiers.
Kershaw reached 89 mph among his 30 pitches, 22 of which were strikes.
“I think a guy like Clayton is more of how he feels,” Manager Dave Roberts said when asked what the Dodgers are looking for in the rehab starts. “I know he’s probably happy with the uptick in velocity. The toe is the last part of it. The body feels good. The arm feels good. And so just getting that left toe, the drive, drive foot, is the last piece. But talking to the training staff, they said he felt pretty good.”
While the Dodgers have not set a definitive timetable for when Kershaw might make his 2025 debut with the Dodgers, Roberts did say that the three-time Cy Young Award winner will pitch for Oklahoma City again next week.
Headed toward his 18th major-league season, Kershaw has a Dodgers record 2,968 strikeouts with a 212-94 record and a 2.50 ERA, the lowest of any pitcher since 1920 with a minimum of 1,500 innings pitched.
When he makes his 2025 debut, he will tie Zack Wheat and Pee Wee Reese for the most seasons played in a Dodgers uniform.
Most notably, though, it will give the pitching staff another veteran starter to work with in a rotation that goes as deep as six starters on occasion.
“I’m more curious in the sense of just getting him back, but I’m not really concerned at all,” Roberts said. “I think that if he’s healthy – (and) his arm is healthy – he’s going to be good.”
Kershaw’s last competitive game was Aug. 30 of last season, when he lasted just one inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks because of toe discomfort from a lingering bone spur. Kershaw’s return is contingent on how that toe feels and how soon Kershaw can ramp up his pitch count.
“Just reading the report, they said that (the toe) felt considerably better, so hopefully tomorrow he feels the same way,” Roberts said.
MORE PITCHERS ON MEND
Kershaw was not the only Dodgers pitcher who took part in Oklahoma City’s game on Wednesday. Right-hander Evan Phillips earned the save with a scoreless ninth inning and showed he is close to a return after pitching on back-to-back days for the first time.
Phillips has pitched 5⅔ innings and has delivered a 6.35 ERA in six appearances with OKC. He has yet to make his season debut while working through a rotator cuff injury from last season.
Left-hander Blake Snell (shoulder) played catch on flat ground, throwing changeups and curveballs but it has not yet been decided if Snell will have a rehab outing or pitch in a simulated game before he returns.
Snell is expected to travel with the team on the upcoming road trip to Texas and Chicago.
Right-hander Michael Kopech (forearm) threw a bullpen session Tuesday and threw on flat ground Wednesday. His next step is to face live hitters before going on a rehab assignment.
“We’re taking the right precautions and everything, but everything feels really good,” Kopech said. “I’m happy to move forward as quickly as my body allows and as quickly as they allow me to.”
WORLD STAGE
Not only is Roberts in favor of his players participating in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, he knows the Dodgers will be well represented.
“We’re probably going to be the team that’s most represented in the WBC,” Roberts said. “So yeah, they want to get the best players in the world, and you’ve got a lot of the best players, so if they want to do it, then I’ll certainly support it.”
The Dodgers had eight players in the 2023 WBC: Mookie Betts (USA), Will Smith (USA), Freddie Freeman (Canada), Julio Urias (Mexico), Austin Barnes (Mexico), Miguel Rojas (Venezuela), Trayce Thompson (Great Britain) and Adam Kolarek (Israel).
Kershaw was set to play before he withdrew. Minor leaguers Jose Ramos (Panama) and Liam Doolan (Australia) also participated. Dodgers third-base coach Dino Ebel was a coach with Team USA.
While not with the Dodgers at the time, three current players were on Japan’s 2023 roster: Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki. Tommy Edman (South Korea), Teoscar Hernandez (Dominican Republic) and Kiké Hernandez (Puerto Rico) also played.
Not only is Roberts fine with his players participating in the WBC, he doubled down and said he hopes major league players are allowed to participate in the 2028 L.A. Olympics.
“It’d be great,” Roberts said. “I think in the city of Los Angeles, to have the Olympics here at Dodger Stadium, it would be a spectacle, and everyone in the world would be watching our game.”
UP NEXT
After an off day Thursday, Dodgers (RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 2-1, 1.23 ERA) at Rangers (TBD), Friday, 5:05 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA, 570 AM