8:39pm: The diagnosis of biceps tendinitis has been confirmed by an MRI, according to several reporters (including The Athletic’s Pedro Moura). Kershaw will begin his injury rehab tomorrow.
7:28pm: Kershaw has already met with Dr. ElAttrache, MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick tweets, and the Dodgers are hopeful of getting the test results either tonight or tomorrow.
1:52pm: Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman discussed Kershaw’s injury with reporters, saying there’s “no indication it’s anything more serious than biceps tendinitis” (via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register).
11:43am: The Dodgers have placed left-hander Clayton Kershaw on the disabled list with biceps tendinitis, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Kershaw’s headed back to Los Angeles to be examined by famed surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache, McCullough adds. The team will replace him on the 25-man roster with righty Brock Stewart, whom it recalled from Triple-A.
While it’s not yet clear just how serious this injury is, seeing arguably the top starter in the game go down with an arm issue is obviously cause for alarm – especially given his career workload (2,101 innings, including playoffs). Moreover, this marks the third straight season in which Kershaw has hit the DL, as hip and back issues prevented him from enjoying full campaigns in 2016 and ’17. Still, unless this is a catastrophic injury, Kershaw’s recent durability concerns won’t necessarily stop him from opting out of the two years and $65MM remaining on his contract after the season. However, they could give the Dodgers and other teams pause if the 30-year-old reaches the open market in search of a megadeal.
While Kershaw’s future will be sorted out during the winter, the Dodgers are currently focused on trying to rebound from a surprisingly poor start. The reigning National League champions came out of the gates at just 15-18 with a healthy Kershaw, putting them seven games behind the NL West-leading Diamondbacks. Injuries were partly to blame for the Dodgers’ struggles even before Kershaw went down, as they’ve seen several household names hit the DL this season in Justin Turner, Corey Seager, Logan Forsythe, Yasiel Puig, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Rich Hill. Seager, LA’s star shortstop, won’t play again this year after undergoing Tommy John surgery last month, while a left groin strain will prevent Ryu from returning until after the All-Star break.
Fortunately for the Dodgers, Hill will come back Tuesday from a finger injury that has kept him out since mid-April. But that can’t be of much consolation to LA, which has encountered almost nothing but bad luck since Turner broke his wrist in late March. As the Dodgers hope for good news on Kershaw, who has pitched to a typically stellar ERA (2.86) over 44 innings this year, they’ll go forth with a rotation consisting of Hill, Alex Wood, rookie sensation Walker Buehler, Kenta Maeda and Ross Stripling (depth chart).
Wow, the only logical explanation of all of this happening is somebody from the Diamondbacks organization selling their soul to the devil in the offseason.
dodgers maneuvering their roster…. hill should be starting soon… FO loves to do this sort of thing.
…followed by another DL stint from an aggravated blister.
The Dbacks have been without Souza until this week, Lamb for all but 4 games, Ray is out, Walker is out for the year. Everyone has injuries, the Diamondbacks have found how to win di spite the injuries.
You really can’t compare the Dbacks injuries to that of the Dodgers, especially when Souza had never even played a regular season game for them before he came back a few days ago, meaning you still don’t know what type of impact, if any, he’ll have with the Dbacks & Jake Lamb is no Justin Turner or Corey Seager. The Dodgers have 3 of 4 infielders on the DL. 1 outfielder, 3 starting pitchers & a reliever & are still managing to be 7 games behind the Dbacks. People shouldn’t count out the Dodgers just yet.
*8 games behind.
You’re forgetting Souza essentially replace JDM.
Replaced*
Should have signed Arrieta this team is going is not going to be able to contend now
Not sure Arrieta is the answer. His contract may prove to be a bad one. His declined velocity, plus declining strikeouts and increasing walks all paint a troubling picture. Add in that’s he’s 32 and has never had smooth mechanics … his best days are likely behind him.
Couldn’t agree more
Pitchers can make the necessary changes. Look at C.C. Sabathia and Bartolo Colon.
Please don’t mention CC in the same sentence as Colon…
What if it’s a sentence about an eating contest?
What if it’s making the Hall of fame? CC needs 11 wins, and 100 strikeouts to have 250 wins, and 3000 strikeouts.
Will Colon make the Hall of fame with his off the field baggage?
Bonds and Clemens better get in long before Colon.
CC’s better
The story on the Dodgers not going after Jake is yet to be written. They wanted to get under the luxury tax to reset for this coming off season. If they can sign a major Fa, then they were smart not to go after Arrieta. If they can’t, then it’s a different story
The Dodgers record the last two years while Kershaw has been on DL:
2016 Team Record = 38-25
2017 Team Record = 24-10
Way different teams.
yikes
Dodgers going into sell mode soon?
No way
Ummm. No
lol I was kidding, they dont really have anyone to sell other than Grandal anyway. Everyone is locked into big money or is too cheap to trade.
I would poke around and see what Texas wants for Bartolo though….
I kinda figured you were kidding, but couldn’t pick up the sarcasm. Lol.
Grandal, Pederson, Forsythe, Kemp. All are in their final season or are expendable.
Can’t imagine any of them would bring back anything significant
Well no really Grandal is the only player with value. That value is somewhat mitigated by the fact he’s a rental. Forsythe has underperformed and plays 2 positions that are extremely deep. Kemp again plays a corner position. He’s bad defensively and he’s owed 6M from deadline on and 20M next year. Don’t really see any fits for him actually. It’d still again be a simple dump for as much money as you can. Pederson keeps hitting and getting on base they aren’t trading him. Maybe so in the offseason when a bounce back season could provide value. But still teams have to want players for them to create value. They are simply not a team to fire sale. Taking everything in from the market they play in to the contract status of FO they might be willing to dump salaries at .50 on the dollar, but not really anything to get excited about I guess. They could be a team that makes trades with an eye on next season though.
It would not be a fire sale or a salary dump, neither of which are needed or appropriate. What it would be is a recognition that this season is going down the toilet and several players on the roster who have no place in next year’s plans could be made appealing cheap in exchange for some useful returns. Playing this situation as if all of this team’s problems are going to magically heal themselves even as they get worse nearly every day is foolishness.
Your assumption is that there are needs or wants for such players. I understand what you’re saying, but the important distinction here is the value you’re placing on said players. It’s been made clear that rental positional guys don’t have the value they once did. Even more so they don’t have the same value as SPs or RPs. Corner guys even more so.
Grandal has value, but then again the market will dictate such. Who needs a C and what they are willing to part with? Not only that where they are at comparable to their threshold concerns. The same market in which Realmulto is the prize.
Forsythe sure I guess? I don’t see a significant need be could fill on a team. He’s sort of showing himself to be a plus defender yet underperformed and really more of a short side of a platoon. The market is even more so muddied if the Twins continue to underperform, Lowrie’s performance, and with Castro on the block. Even the potential movement of Hernandez should Philly choose so.
Kemp really who’s in the market for a DH/def liability in OF with a huge AAV mark towards next year. NY no, Bos no, Tor not in their blood, Clev stretched fin, Ana no, Sea slew of them, Hou special one waiting, AZ can’t afford, Co no absolutely not in Coors and well fin, STL absolutely not, Mil OF crowded, Chi no, ATL essentially ate Kaz and Gonzo to dump him, Philly way to many OFs/corners. So let’s be honest what is going to turn there.
Call it what you want, but Forsythe and Kemp are financial dumps. And yes Kemp’s performance has be pretty good offensively but there’s not really a fit. Then there’s always what is worriful when the dog days roll around. You can eat a ton of money, but a return is probably an A ball or two flyers if a team is desperate. The problem simply is there’s no value there. If a deal made absolute sense and was viable the Dodgers probably churn over winter. Just don’t see it with Forsythe or Kemp. It just a corner OF market and 3b/2b not very hot commodities that render significant returns unless something completely unforeseen occurs.
I’m not proposing a financial dump at all. I’m proposing the Dodgers eat whatever salary is required to get anything of some possible future use from any one or more of them. I’m not trying to figure out the matches here or how much or little value they might have to any other team. That is what the market will decide. What I am saying is I can’t see the point of holding onto them. If the Dodgers can get even a bucket of balls for any of them, they should.
They should. If Kershaw opts out they shouldn’t give him anything. Hill can’t be trusted, 2B is a hole, Puig is too inconsistent, Taylor is better as a bench player, Turner is about to be done as he can’t stay healthy and turns 34 this year. How long can Kemp go?
Does getting hit on the wrist by a pitch count as a problem staying healthy?
Yes
I see, so getting hit by on the hand by an errant fastball is a chronic medical problem? An interesting theory. Looking forward to the paper on it.
And yet, those are the players that took them to the WS last year. You want to just sell them off huh? Ok, Pal.
Not me.
Man, them and the Giants. DL city.
Matt Harvey – future Dodger?
Are they that desperate?
no team is that desperate
please, not Harvey…
Maybe trade for Max Scherzer?
That’s hilarious.
What’s going on, this is getting like the NFL with all the QB’s getting hurt for the playoffs.
Never thought id say this but might as well see what Matt Harvey can do.
Harvey needs to spend a lot of time in the minors correcting whatever issues he has. Probably both mechanics and mental. He shouldn’t be back in the bigs until Post all star break at the earliest
It is all physical. His body has broken down. TJ and TOS are too much to overcome.
Hate to say it but maybe this is a good thing for the Dodgers. If Kershaw has multiple DL stints this season maybe he doesn’t opt out? Season seems to be a lost cause already anyways.
That’s really the only potential silver lining here. Kershaw has now had DL stints 3 years in a row, so this setback may convince him to ride out the rest of his contract.
No chance. Hes opting out.
When you are the pennant winners from last year, you can’t say it is a lost season after a month. But I do agree with your point that Kershaw may not opt out if this is an injury that requires multiple DL stints. Not many teams would be prepared to top 2/65 for a pitcher who has had significant injuries three seasons in a row.
Tough to see another good pitcher go down.
He would be unwise to opt out. Besides, how much money does he really need?
It’s more likely he gets a better deal at age thirty than age thirty two though.
I know it’s only may right now but, Arizona looks like the best team in the n.l and possibly winning the division.
They are solid all the way around, and their injuries are few. The only team they need to worry about is COL.
“no indication it’s anything more serious than biceps tendinitis” but he is seeing ElAttrache the TJ surgery specialist? Those two don’t jibe.
1st off, biceps tendinitis is serious. That alone could cost Kershaw his season. 2nd, ElAttrache is consulted when you are worried about deeper issues in the elbow.
They probably don’t jive bc he’s the teams head physician. Tendinitis in & of itself isn’t serious, especially if it’s truly just tendinitis. If there was biceps tightening it’d be extremely concerning. But trying to connect A to B without laying out the facts is somewhat irresponsible. And again any serious injury involving the Dodgers is going to concern ElAttrache. It might be a different story concerning a different team. If there is a want for a second opinion yes that is a completely different story.
He’s a specialist, but there’s more to a specialist than a particular type of surgery.
Heck, Dr James Andrews is known for TJ surgery, yet he’s consulted and operated on countless other pro athletes for non-TJ surgeries.
You go to the best – doesn’t mean only one outcome.
You heard it here first tj.
Thanks, I will remember you in my will.
Mommas wrong again!
the dodgers seem to be getting old fast…turner ryu seager now this
Seager is old??????
Dodgers have played better without that selfish dirtbag on the roster anyway. If he’s back healthy in July trade him for a couple of young studs. If the price is right and he opts out of his new team in November consider bringing him back.
all them uncalled balks finally got to him
it don’t matter. they’re going downhill with or without him. after getting to the WS for the first time in 30 years, the Corporation’s ownership stated last year they’d accept nothing less than a WS championship. haha. they terribly overestimated the Astros and their payroll wasn’t enough. i’d like to see them go another 3 decades without a WS.
Dont you mean underestimated? & no the Dodgers didn’t. Why would they have if the Astros were the 2nd best team in baseball record wise the whole year. Why so salty?
the wheels have come off the bus for the Dod-gers…
now we’ll get to see what Pederson, Verdugo, Valeric, Kemp, Utley, Buehler and Hernandez can do as starters