Apr 18, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22) throws in the first inning against the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Clayton Kershaw is back. The future Baseball Hall of Famer will return to the mound at Dodger Stadium again after an elongated absence from the team due to injury.

The southpaw had been plagued by a shoulder injury that kept him off the field for the last six weeks. But Kershaw returns to a Los Angeles Dodgers team again atop the National League West Division.

The Dodgers made the public aware of the news with a simple roster transaction post. “The Dodgers activated LHP Clayton Kershaw and optioned LHP Victor González.”

Kershaw’s return comes while the Dodgers have gotten hot. Los Angeles is 21-11 since July 1 and 16-8 in the official second half of the Major League Baseball season. Freddie Freeman has made a significant run to the top of the proverbial NL MVP leaderboard. So has Mookie Betts. The team must be thankful to add another weapon in Kershaw along for the ride.

Clayton has dealt with lingering injury issues over the past few years. But before his injury, he looked good. Kershaw pitched a 2.55 ERA through 95.1 innings, with 105 strikeouts to his name.

The Dodgers begin a four-game series in Los Angeles against the Colorado Rockies. L.A. is winners of their last four and eight of the last nine games coming into Thursday night’s game versus the Rockies.

[Dodgers]

About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022