LOS ANGELES — Just like you, Clayton Kershaw had a difficult time getting up early to watch the Dodgers open the season in South Korea.
“It was 5 am in Texas. I think I made it by the third inning,” Kershaw said Saturday. “I was helping the kiddos get ready for school, watching.”
That’s all Kershaw can do these days – watch. Nearing the five-month anniversary of the first surgery of his career (to repair the capsule of his left shoulder), Kershaw is on the sidelines, working through the early stages of a throwing program while the Dodgers play on without him.
“It’s been weird,” said Kershaw who only spent a couple weeks with the team during spring training before rejoining the Dodgers this week. “It’s been great to get more family time. I won’t lie about that. But it’s definitely weird to not be in it in it.
“Being here for Opening Week and I’ll be here for homestands most of the time here on out, that’s nice. I need that. I need to feel that I’m in the mix at least a little bit. Be a part of it. It’s good for me. It’s fun to come here every day. I don’t take that for granted. It’s been a good week.”
Kershaw was on the field before Saturday’s game long-tossing from about 120 feet and then throwing some more on flat ground with added intensity.
“Just kind of ramping up the intensity a little bit and starting to throw a little bit harder than just lobbing it,” he said. “Once I scoot in to 60 feet again, I start throwing with a little more intensity.”
At some point in May, he expects to progress to throwing off a mound for the first time since the surgery. The forecast of a “July/August-ish” return to action remains, he said.
“I just had no expectations. I had no idea what to expect,” Kershaw said. “Dr. ElAttrache is confident in the timeline. I trusted him and so far it’s going great.”
His four kids have noticed the scar on his shoulder. Kershaw has noticed a difference in how his shoulder feels. But he is characteristically circumspect about offering any detail.
“It feels different in a good way, for sure. So far,” he said. “There’s soreness and stiffness and all that stuff from surgery which I think is pretty normal. I still have that every now and then. The stuff I had before — it’s different for sure. That’s about as specific as I’ll get.”
Kershaw has dealt with injuries on an annual basis over the past several seasons. The regimented nature of rehabilitating from surgery is a new experience for him, though.
“I think the only good thing for me is – when you don’t have surgery, you can kind of just push through and say you’re going to be ready,” Kershaw said. “In my head, it’s, ‘Well, if I don’t need surgery, then I don’t need to heal and I can go.’ But with surgery, there’s certain finite things you have to do.
“It’s really helpful for my patience level to know you can’t pick up a baseball for three months then you have to really build up for the next three months after that. I think the stepping stones are super helpful for my brain as opposed to maybe the wait-and-see approach – which is all I’ve ever known. I’ve never done this before.”
BETTS FOCUS
Mookie Betts has taken on the biggest challenge of his career, moving to shortstop right before the start of the season. Betts has been putting in extra work at shortstop daily, working with coach Dino Ebel and getting tutoring from Miguel Rojas.
None of that has affected him at the plate. Going into Saturday’s game, Betts was 8 for his first 14 with three home runs, six runs scored and nine driven in. He reached base in 13 of his first 19 plate appearances.
“I think the great thing about Mookie is that they’re really two separate points,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Betts’ ability to separate his defensive responsibilities from his offensive game. “He’s off to a great start because he’s off to a great start. The defense –, learning a new position, arguably the hardest on the field – doesn’t bleed into the offense. I think he’s just unique in that sense.
“I think you can argue that it could take some toll on your mental capacity to perform offensively if you’re taking up the challenge of learning a new position like shortstop But for him it just doesn’t get in the way. He’s done a good job of compartmentalizing.”
ALSO
Right-hander Walker Buehler is scheduled to start for Triple-A Oklahoma City in Tacoma on Sunday. Buehler is expected to throw between 40 and 50 pitches in the first of multiple rehab starts. Buehler is not expected to make his delayed return from Tommy John surgery until some time in May.
UP NEXT
Cardinals (LHP Steven Matz, 4-7, 3.86 ERA in 2023) at Dodgers (RHP Gavin Stone, 1-1, 9.00 ERA in 2023), Sunday, 4:10 p.m. PT, ESPN, 570 AM
