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Dodgers Notes: Kershaw, Edman, Hernandez, Ohtani
Longtime face of the Dodgers’ franchise and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw is making his 2025 season debut against the Angels this evening, and ahead of the start of his 18th season in the majors the veteran spoke to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic about his drive to continue his playing career.
“I don’t really understand that question,” Kershaw said, as relayed by Ardaya, when asked why he’s continuing his career. “People ask me that. Why not just ride off into the sunset? I’m 37. I have a long time ahead of me. Baseball is fun. So why not? As of today, that’s my answer, yeah.”
Kershaw, of course, has flirted with the possibility of retirement from time to time over the years. After winning a second World Series championship with the Dodgers last year and being forced to end his season in August due to injuries that eventually required surgery on his left plantar plate and to repair a torn left meniscus over the winter. He’s been rehabbing ever since, and enters this year playing on a one-year deal that guarantees him just $7.5MM, although incentives based on starts made and time on the active roster could bring that total up to $15MM by the end of the season depending on his health.
The southpaw is already a slam-dunk Hall of Famer and one of the greatest pitchers of the 21st century, but there are some career milestones left for him to conquer. For one thing, he’s 32 strikeouts away from being the 20th pitcher in MLB history to reach 3,000 for his career. The 257 1/3 innings he’d still need in order to join the 3,000 innings club isn’t a goal he can reach this season, but after pitching 258 innings total in 2022 and ’23 it’s not hard to imagine him reaching that milestone before his 40th birthday should he decide to continue his career for that long.
One other motivator for Kershaw could be that neither of his World Series rings have come with the full experience: the Dodgers couldn’t hold a parade in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Kershaw was not on the field with his teammates for their championship last year due to injuries. Kershaw confirmed that his inability to participate down the stretch last year was a source of frustration.
“Nobody wants to just sit around,” Kershaw said, as relayed by Ardaya. “I want to pitch, and contribute, and be a part of it. Last year was difficult. Obviously, fun to at least be a part of it and see us win and things like that. You always want to be a part of a great team. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
More from around the Dodgers…
- The Los Angeles lineup has been a bit battered in recent weeks with both Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández both on the injured list. Fortunately, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Ardaya) yesterday that the club may not be without those bats for very long. Edman is expected to be activated for tomorrow’s series finale against the Angels, while Hernandez is currently on a brief rehab assignment but could be active as soon as this coming Monday against the Diamondbacks. Edman’s 122 wRC+ and versatility have been sorely missed since he went on the IL at the end of April, while Hernandez’s .315/.333/.600 slash line prior to hitting the shelf with a groin strain on May 6 trailed only Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani on the team.
- Speaking of Ohtani, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register writes that his latest bullpen saw him throw 50 pitches split between two 25-pitch “innings” during an up-and-down session. Plunkett adds that it’s the most pitches he’s thrown in a single session during his recovery from Tommy John surgery. That could mean that progressing to facing live hitters is coming soon, though Plunkett did note that the two-way phenom still has yet to throw any breaking pitches. Even with this progress in his rehab, the reigning NL MVP shouldn’t be expected back on a big league mound until the second half of the season.
Giants Move Jordan Hicks To Bullpen
The Giants have moved right-hander Jordan Hicks into a bullpen role. Hicks’s spot in the starting rotation will go to right-hander Hayden Birdsong, who is now slated to start for San Francisco against the Royals on May 20. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle first suggested that the club was discussing the possibility of taking Hicks out of the rotation this afternoon, and manager Bob Melvin later confirmed the change to reporters (including Slusser) and announced Birdsong as Tuesday’s starter prior to tonight’s game.
It was just last week that Melvin suggested that moving Hicks out of the rotation was not something the Giants had begun discussing. Just a few days later, however, Hicks suffered his worst start of the season against the Diamondbacks as he was torched for five runs across just two innings of work. In that time, he surrendered seven hits (including a home run) and one walk while recording just one strikeout. It seems that outing, which raised Hicks’s ERA to 6.55 on the season, was the final straw for the Giants and convinced them that it was time to explore other options to round out the rotation behind Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, Justin Verlander, and Landen Roupp.
It’s an unfortunate end to Hicks’s time in the rotation, particularly given the fact that peripheral numbers have generally looked favorably upon the right-hander’s work with the club this year. The righty’s 20.3% strikeout rate doesn’t exactly jump off the page, but he’s walked just 7.9% of his opponents and generated an incredible 57.4% ground ball rate. That’s the sixth-highest grounder rate among all qualified starters this year, and of the five names above him only Webb has allowed less hard contact than Hicks’s minuscule 27.7% clip. That elite contact management has been held back by a sky-high .362 BABIP and a shockingly low 56.7% strand rate. Those figures suggest some bad luck and poor sequencing may be the culprit of Hicks’s struggles, and those ideas are further backed up by his 3.48 FIP and 3.74 SIERA.
That 3.79 figure the 30th best SIERA in baseball among qualified starters this year, sandwiched between Clay Holmes and Freddy Peralta. While Hicks’s peripheral numbers may suggest strong underlying performance, however, it’s hard to make the argument that this move to the bullpen was premature. Hicks is the worst qualified starter in the league by ERA this year, and his struggles actually date back to last season when he posted an ugly 8.18 ERA with a 6.44 FIP across his final five starts of the year before moving to the bullpen in the second half and returning to form with a 1.17 ERA in August.
While it’s far from impossible to imagine Hicks getting another look in the rotation at some point given those aforementioned strong peripherals, a number of injuries may be required in order for that to come to pass. After all, the Giants have an excess of starting talent that’s forced them to use well-regarded youngsters like Birdsong and recent top prospect Kyle Harrison out of the bullpen to this point in the season. Birdsong, who posted a 4.75 ERA in 16 starts as a rookie last year, has done everything that could be expected to earn another crack at starting this year with a 2.31 ERA and a 24.8% strikeout rate in 23 1/3 innings of work as a multi-inning relief arm. The righty’s 9.9% walk rate is elevated, but his 3.68 SIERA to this point in the year is even better than that of Hicks. As for Harrison, the southpaw began the season in the minors and has only made three appearances so far this year at the big league level, though he’s struck out 31.3% of opponents with a 2.25 ERA in that limited work.
Dodgers Activate Clayton Kershaw
May 17: The Dodgers have activated Kershaw, as expected. Right-hander Ryan Loutos was optioned to the minor leagues to make room for Kershaw on the active roster, while southpaw Blake Snell was transferred to the 60-day IL to make room on the 40-man roster. Given that Snell has already been on the shelf for nearly six weeks and has only recently resumed a throwing program, Snell’s transfer is largely a procedural move that does not necessarily indicate a change in his timetable for return.
May 13: Clayton Kershaw will make his season debut against the Angels on Saturday, manager Dave Roberts tells reporters (including David Vassegh of 570 Sports). The Dodgers will need to activate him from the 60-day injured list.
Kershaw opened the season on the 60-day IL as he recovers from offseason surgeries on his left knee and left foot. He has made five minor league rehab starts going back to April 16. He’s combined for a 2.57 ERA across 21 innings. Kershaw reached six innings in an appearance for the team’s complex affiliate on May 6. He threw four frames and 57 pitches during his most recent start for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday.
The future Hall of Famer signed an incentive-laden contract for what will be his 18th MLB season. While he’s only guaranteed $7.5MM, the deal contains $8.5MM in incentives depending on his workload. He’d unlock a $1MM bonus for making his 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th starts. The deal also contains roster bonuses. He’ll collect an additional $2.5MM for reaching 30 days on the active roster, $1MM for 60 days, and $1MM for 90 days.
Kershaw was limited to seven starts last season. He missed the first few months recovering from the shoulder procedure that he’d undergone late in 2023. Bone spurs in his foot sent him back to the injured list at the end of August. Kershaw wasn’t able to return for the World Series run. He finished the year with a 4.50 ERA across 30 innings.
In other Dodger rotation news, Roberts said that Roki Sasaki reported some arm soreness coming out of his start on Friday (via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic). The team has not decided whether it’ll require an IL stint. Sasaki has gotten out to a rocky start to his MLB career. He has only completed six innings in one of his first eight outings. He has yet to record more than four strikeouts in a game and carries a 4.72 ERA with very poor strikeout and walk rates.
If Sasaki avoids the IL, Kershaw could push the Dodgers back to a six-man rotation. Injuries to Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow have dropped them to a five-man staff comprising Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Sasaki, and Landon Knack.
Twins Place Byron Buxton On Concussion IL
The Twins are placing center fielder Byron Buxton on the 7-day concussion-related injured list, according to Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune. A corresponding roster move won’t be announced officially until tomorrow, though Dan Hayes of The Athletic suggests that outfielder Carson McCusker is traveling to Milwaukee to join the club. Nightengale adds that McCusker is expected to be added to the roster tomorrow, though he’s not yet on the 40-man roster and a corresponding move will be necessary in order for him to replace Buxton.
The decision to place Buxton on the shelf isn’t exactly a surprise given that he collided with shortstop Carlos Correa earlier this week, sending both players to the ground and forcing them both to leave the game. Correa was placed on the concussion IL yesterday, and though Buxton initially remained in concussion protocol he’ll now join Correa on the shelf today. Ryan Fitzgerald was added to the Twins’ roster to replace Correa, but Brooks Lee has taken over shortstop in his absence while DaShawn Keirsey Jr. has filled in for Buxton in center.
Losing Buxton is a particularly harsh blow for the Twins because the oft-injured star has been very healthy to this point in the year. After posting a 142 wRC+ last year while crossing the 100 games played threshold for just the second time in his MLB career, Buxton had played in 41 of the club’s 44 games when the collision occurred while hitting an impressive .261/.312/.522 (130 wRC+) in that time. That star-level offensive production in conjunction with Buxton’s elite defense in center field makes him one of the league’s most valuable players when healthy, but now the Twins will have to figure things out without him for at least the next week.
For however long Buxton is out of commission, it seems the club will turn to McCusker for help in the outfield. Just days shy of his 27th birthday, McCusker has not yet made his MLB debut. A 26th-round pick by the Brewers all the way back in 2017, he ultimately did not sign with the club and played college ball before going undrafted and spending parts of three seasons with the Tri-City Valley Cats of the independent Frontier League. The Twins pried him away from indy ball in 2023 and he’s done nothing but hit since then, with a career .290/.358/.528 slash line in the minors that includes a dazzling .350/.412/.650 performance across 154 plate appearances at Triple-A this season.
While McCusker is getting a late start to his big league career after taking an unusual path to the majors, those titanic numbers in the minors make it hard to deny that he’s ready for an opportunity at the sport’s highest level. A right-handed outfielder, perhaps McCusker can share time in an outfield spot with Keirsey while Harrison Bader and Trevor Larnach continue to hold down everyday spots in the Twins’ outfield mix. While Bader’s 146 wRC+ and Larnach’s 109 wRC+ this year are both good enough that a reduction in playing time seems unlikely, Keirsey has hit just .116/.116/.186 so far this year. A strong performance from McCusker could be enough to give him a leg up over Keirsey for the fourth outfield job when Buxton eventually returns to the roster, particularly considering that his right-handed bat would be a better complement for the lefty-swinging Larnach.
Jose Quintana Seeking Second Opinion On Shoulder
Brewers southpaw Jose Quintana is seeking a second opinion on his ailing shoulder, according to Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Quintana was placed on the injured list due to a left shoulder impingement earlier this week after telling reporters he was dealing with inflammation in both his shoulder and biceps.
Prior to his placement on the IL, he was expected to take the ball for the club’s game against the Twins today. His placement on the 15-day IL earlier this week scuttled those plans and left him with an uncertain return date, though manager Pat Murphy told reporters (including those at MLB.com) that initial testing on Quintana’s injuries were “encouraging” and that the club was hoping for a minimum stint for the veteran. With that being said, the fact that he’s seeking a second opinion might suggest that the 36-year-old is ticketed for a longer absence than initially anticipated.
Signed by the Brewers in early March, Quintana began the 2025 season in the minor leagues so he could continue building up his pitch count ahead of joining the Milwaukee rotation after he got a late start to Spring Training. He eventually made his season debut in mid-April and went on to make six starts for the Brewers before hitting the shelf. He was generally very impressive over those six starts, with a 2.65 ERA despite a lackluster 17.4% strikeout rate. His 4.57 FIP is more in line with the performance of a back-end starter than the excellent production he’s offered the Brewers so far.
Of course, even that lesser figure is a significant loss for a Brewers club that’s already muddling through the early part of the season with a paper-thin rotation. Quintana is currently joined on the shelf by Aaron Ashby, Aaron Civale, Robert Gasser, DL Hall, Nestor Cortes, and Brandon Woodruff. That group of seven rotation arms on the injured list left the Brewers forced to recall Tobias Myers to the big league roster just days after he was optioned to the minors due to shaky performance, including just one more strikeout (11) than his walk total (10) on the season so far.
The good news for fans in Milwaukee is that reinforcements can be expected in the relatively near future regardless of Quintana’s ultimate timeline. Civale, Hall, and Ashby are all expected back in the fold either by the end of the month or early into the month of June, while Woodruff was initially poised to be activated from the shelf this weekend but suffered a setback due to some ankle tendinitis that has pushed that timeline back somewhat. According to Rosiak, he’ll throw a bullpen on Sunday before beginning another rehab assignment, though it’s not entirely clear how long this latest rehab assignment is expected to take.
In the meantime, the Brewers have reinserted Myers back into the rotation alongside Freddy Peralta, Chad Patrick, Quinn Priester, and Logan Henderson. Top prospect Jacob Misiorowski is dominating at the Triple-A level and seems likely to force the issue at some point this season, but he’s not yet on the 40-man roster and the club has offered few indications that he could be in the conversation for a promotion in the short term.
Pirates Activate Spencer Horwitz
May 17: Horwitz is being activated for today’s game, as manager Don Kelly told reporters (including Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) this afternoon. First baseman and outfielder Matt Gorski is being optioned to the minor leagues in a corresponding move.
May 16, 11:46am: Horwitz won’t be active for tonight’s game but will be reinstated later during this weekend series, Hiles further reports.
May 16, 11:09am: First baseman Spencer Horwitz will join the Pirates in Philadelphia and be active for this weekend’s series against the Phillies, reports Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It’ll be the Pirates debut for Horwitz, whom Pittsburgh acquired in the offseason.
Horwitz, 27, came to the Bucs in what was effectively a three-team trade. The Blue Jays traded Horwitz and outfield prospect Nick Mitchell to the Guardians in exchange for infielder Andres Gimenez and reliever Nick Sandlin. Just a couple hours later, the Guardians sent Horwitz to the Pirates in exchange for righty Luis Ortiz and pitching prospects Josh Hartle and Michael Kennedy.
In Horwitz, the Pirates hope to be acquiring a controllable first baseman who could provide a boost to their lineup. He may prove to be that, but his first crack at doing so was delayed by February wrist surgery that has prevented him from taking the field thus far.
Horwitz has played in parts of two major league seasons with Toronto and hit well the entire time he’s been in the majors. In 425 plate appearances, he’s a .264/.355/.428 batter. He’s shown a similar OBP-over-power approach in the upper minors, slashing .316/.429/.471 in 978 plate appearances with the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo. Horwitz was largely blocked from playing time at first base in Toronto thanks to the presence of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., so the Jays tried him briefly at second base and in left field.
No such shuffling will be necessary in Pittsburgh, where Pirates first basemen have combined to post an anemic .192/.259/.340 slash so far in 2025 (64 wRC+). That production — or lack thereof — comes via the quartet of Enmanuel Valdez, Matt Gorski, Endy Rodriguez and Jared Triolo. Horwitz should have a clear runway to take the everyday first base job in Pittsburgh. If he’s able to do so, the Pirates can control him for five additional seasons beyond the current year. He’d be arbitration-eligible as a Super Two player in the 2027-28 offseason.
White Sox Outright Jacob Amaya
TODAY: Amaya has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, according to Sox Machine’s James Fegan.
MAY 16: The White Sox announced Friday morning that infielder Jacob Amaya has been designated for assignment. He’ll be the corresponding roster move for Chicago’s previously reported acquisition of reliever Miguel Castro. The Sox also added infielder Vinny Capra, whom they claimed off waivers from the Brewers, to their active roster. Left-hander Jared Shuster was optioned to Triple-A to clear a second roster spot.
Amaya, 26, originally came to the White Sox via waivers last August. He was briefly jettisoned from the 40-man roster in January and claimed by the Orioles. The South Siders claimed Amaya back from Baltimore two weeks later when the O’s tried to pass him through waivers themselves.
Amaya is regarded as a gifted defender but offers little with the bat. He’s appeared in 56 games with the ChiSox and totaled 139 plate appearances but has just a .140/.174/.155 batting line to show for it — including a .097/.119/.113 slash in 68 plate appearances this season. Though he’s yet to provide any offense in the big leagues, Amaya has a more palatable (albeit still below average) .246/.342/.380 batting line in 1219 plate appearances at the Triple-A level.
Because Amaya is out of minor league options, the Sox couldn’t simply send him directly to Triple-A Charlotte. He’d first need to pass through outright waivers for the Sox to be able to assign him to a minor league affiliate. Major League Baseball’s DFA window lasts a week, and the Sox are free to explore trade possibilities or place Amaya during that time. Waivers are a 48-hour process, however, so if they find a trade partner it’d need to happen within the next five days. Given Amaya’s struggles this year, waivers seem likelier, but a team with a short-term need at shortstop could show some interest.
Yankees Notes: Canning, Cousins, Stanton
With Griffin Canning starting for the Mets in today’s Subway Series matchup, Yankees manager Aaron Boone revealed to reporters (including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch) that his own club met with Canning and explored a possible signing this past offseason. Instead, Canning wound up in another corner of the Big Apple, signing with the Mets for $4.25MM in guaranteed money on a one-year contract.
The deal was the culmination of a busy winter for Canning, who was dealt from the Angels to the Braves as part of the Jorge Soler that was essentially a salary dump on Atlanta’s part. Indeed, Canning found himself non-tendered just a few weeks after the trade was completed, and he caught on with the Mets a month later. That deal is now looking like one of the better under-the-radar contracts of the offseason, as Canning has blossomed to a 2.36 ERA over 42 innings with the Amazins.
Signing Canning obviously wouldn’t have prevented the Yankees from their big-ticket pitching acquisition of Max Fried, but it could be that if Canning was in the fold, minor league signings Carlos Carrasco or Jake Woodford might not have wound up in the pinstripes, or the Yankees might not have claimed Allan Winans on waivers. Who knows if Canning would’ve enjoyed the same early success with the Yankees that he has with the Mets, but having an extra starter on hand would’ve been helpful for a Bronx Bombers rotation mix that has been thinned by injuries to Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, Marcus Stroman, and JT Brubaker.
Boone’s pregame media session (with Hoch, the New York Post’s Greg Joyce, and other reporters) also included some injury updates. Jake Cousins has yet to pitch in 2025 due to a right elbow flexor strain sustained during the offseason, and the reliever’s recovery process has been further delayed by a pec injury that developed during a recent live bullpen session. Boone doesn’t think the pec issue is “anything serious,” but it was enough for the Yankees to shut Cousins down for 4-5 days to monitor the situation.
Cousins is on the 60-day injured list and was already expected to be out well beyond his first eligible activation date in late May. Joyce writes that Cousins was aiming to return to New York’s bullpen by the middle of June, “but this shutdown will almost certainly delay that timeline.”
The first of Cousins’ live bullpens came facing Giancarlo Stanton, as part of Stanton’s own rehab from torn tendons in both of his elbows. Boone said that Stanton’s workload has included running on the field and facing a high-velocity pitching machine, in addition to some live at-bats against the likes of Cousins.
Stanton is also on the 60-day IL and can be activated in a little over a week’s time, though it isn’t clear exactly how close the slugger is to even a minor league rehab assignment, let alone returning to the majors. Boone did note that Stanton’s rehab process may not follow a standard path, as since Stanton is a DH-only player, he won’t have to take any reps in the field.
Guardians Activate Slade Cecconi
TODAY: The Guardians have officially announced Cecconi’s activation. Right-hander Zak Kent was optioned to Columbus in the corresponding move.
MAY 16: The Guardians will activate Slade Cecconi from the 15-day injured list to start tomorrow against Cincinnati, relays Tim Stebbins of MLB.com. It will be the right-hander’s team debut. He was acquired from the Diamondbacks in the offseason Josh Naylor trade.
Cecconi, 25, probably would have opened the season in Stephen Vogt’s rotation had he been healthy. He strained his left oblique during Spring Training. He has made a trio of rehab starts with Triple-A Columbus over the past couple weeks. Cecconi has allowed seven runs over 13 innings. He got through 5 2/3 frames and tallied 68 pitches over the weekend.
A Miami product, Cecconi was a supplemental first-round pick in 2020. His prospect stock has dimmed since then, though the Guardians still liked him enough to send their longtime first baseman to Arizona. Cecconi tossed 104 innings for the Snakes between 2023-24, allowing just over six earned runs per nine. His 18.7% strikeout rate is below-average, but he has shown excellent control. He owns a 4.73 ERA over parts of five minor league seasons.
Cleveland lost Ben Lively to the injured list with a flexor strain earlier this week. Cecconi will slot behind Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Luis Ortiz and Logan Allen to round out the rotation for the time being.
