But it wasn’t the same Clayton Kershaw.
At 35 years old, Kershaw long ago lost the mid-90s mph life his fastball used to boast. In his last two starts, however, his velocity readings have tanked to near-career lows — reigniting sudden questions about a lingering shoulder injury that, after costing him all of July, is threatening to affect his performance for the rest of the campaign.
“It’s one of those things where, this is where we’re at,” manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 6-3 loss to the Miami Marlins on Tuesday. “Obviously it’s not ideal for him. But we’re going to make the most of it.”
A week after averaging a season-low 89.6 mph with his fastball, Kershaw’s four-seamer was sitting at 88.4 mph Tuesday. He failed to eclipse 90.0 mph with even a single pitch, according to MLB’s Baseball Savant system. And this time, poor command dogged him, as well, as he matched a season-high with five walks in a five-inning, three-run start.
While Kershaw insisted — repeatedly — that “I feel fine” when pressed about his shoulder ailment, Roberts indicated the undisclosed injury is continuing to affect the team’s longtime ace.
“I think the hope is he’s going to continue to feel better,” Roberts said pregame. “But given where he’s at physically, it’s hard to say that’s going to happen.
Kershaw first got hurt during a start in Colorado in late June, when he said his shoulder got “a little cranky” during an outing at Coors Field. The veteran went on the injured list soon after and missed six weeks. Upon returning in early August, however, he looked sharp in back-to-back five-inning, one-run starts that lowered his ERA to a team-best 2.48.
Kershaw’s three outings since haven’t been nearly as smooth.
After throwing just two innings in a rain shortened start in Cleveland last month, Kershaw’s velocity problems first popped up against the Arizona Diamondbacks last week.
Despite Roberts’ hope Tuesday afternoon that Kershaw would look sharper, the Dodgers instead witnessed more of the same, with the left-hander having to skirt danger, grind through stressful innings and find other ways to compensate for his diminished velocity and command — both problems that Roberts traced back to his ailing shoulder.
“It’s where he’s at right now, physically,” Roberts said.
And the question now facing the Dodgers — whose already thin rotation was rocked by Julio Urías’ arrest for suspicion of felony domestic violence Sunday night — is whether Kershaw can hold up to lead the pitching staff into October.
“Just need to keep going,” Kershaw said. “There’s really nothing else to do. Just try to pitch better.”
Kershaw’s outing on Tuesday could’ve been a lot worse.
He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the second inning by inducing a key double-play. He did the same thing in the fourth with runners on first and second. And entering the fifth, he had the Dodgers in front 2-1, his only blemish a solo home run to Jake Burger that came on a hanging changeup.
Freddie Freeman walks back to the dugout after striking out in the first inning of a 6-3 loss to the Miami Marlins on Tuesday.
(Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press)
“You certainly see the desire to be effective,” Roberts said. “You certainly see the compete.”
But, on his 74th offering of the night, Kershaw’s inconsistent fastball finally caught up with him.
With a runner on first, he tried starting Marlins veteran Josh Bell with a first-pitch fastball. The throw, however, was right in the middle of the strike zone. And the velocity — an unremarkable 88.2 mph — made it a meatball that Bell demolished with a thunderous swing.
By the time Kershaw turned around to watch the two-run homer sail out to center field, he was already wearing a look of disgust.
And while the Dodgers’ loss wasn’t sealed until the eighth — when reliever Ryan Yarbrough gave up back-to-back homers in what had been a tied game — it was Kershaw’s declining stuff that set off the loudest alarm bells for their season.
“I can’t pitch the way I pitched tonight,” Kershaw said. “That’s not good.”
Despite Kershaw’s health questions, the Dodgers will continue to give him turns through their rotation.
Roberts said surgery isn’t “inevitable” for Kershaw, like it was for teammate Tony Gonsolin when he tried pitching through an elbow problem earlier this season.
He also said the team isn’t considering giving Kershaw an extended break, and that it’s more important to keep his arm fresh with consistent outings.
And he was adamant that the Dodgers’ other pitching issues are not factoring into the situation.
“If he can feel like he can take the ball,” Roberts said, “then he’s going to take the baseball.”
Kershaw pointed to other areas of needed improvement. He planned to sit down with pitching coach Mark Prior on Wednesday to try and identify areas to clean up his mechanics. He bemoaned his inability to stay in the strike zone, declaring “walking five is more the issue” than a decrease in fastball velocity.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw stands in the dugout before a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 30.
(Ryan Sun / Associated Press)
And, every time he was asked about his shoulder postgame, he answered with the same three words: “I feel fine.”
Still, after averaging more than 91 mph with his fastball for much of the season, Kershaw’s recent velocity declines are unsettling, if not ominous.
And even if his shoulder holds up over the next couple months, the Dodgers can only hope his stuff doesn’t keep declining, as well.
“Obviously when you’re talking about lower velocity, it kind of decreases margin,” Roberts said. “But I still believe that with his pitch mix, he still can get major league hitters out.”