MIAMI — Whatever is going on inside Clayton Kershaw’s shoulder, it is clearly a compromised version of the future Hall of Famer taking the mound for the Dodgers now.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts essentially admitted as much before Kershaw started Tuesday night in Miami, walked five in five innings and gave up home runs to Jake Burger and Josh Bell as the Dodgers lost to the Miami Marlins, 6-3.
“I think the hope is he’s going to continue to feel better. But given where he’s at physically, it’s hard to say that’s going to happen,” Roberts said about Kershaw before the game.
“It is what it is. Guys say that and I hate that answer. But it’s where he’s at. So it’s where he’s at. He’s able to make a start and that’s where he’s at. I can’t give it any more color. I really can’t.”
After watching Kershaw struggle to touch 90 mph with his fastball and try to work around 10 baserunners in his final four innings, Roberts continued to point to Kershaw’s ongoing shoulder issues as the reason for the lack of “finish” on many of his pitches.
“I think so. I think it’s just that last bit of finish on whether it be the slider, the curveball that might not be as sharp,” Roberts said after the game. “The slider that might not get the depth that we’re used to or the fastball commanding that last bit. I think that’s part of it. It’s one of those things where – this is where we’re at. Obviously, it’s not ideal for him. But we’re going to make the most of it.”
Given the depleted state of the Dodgers’ starting rotation, they have little alternative, though Roberts would not blame that.
“He’s going to keep going. He’s going to keep going until he can’t,” Roberts said.
“It’s not that at all. If he is able to take the baseball, he’s going to take the baseball. This has nothing to do with where the rotation’s at, who’s available, who’s not. It’s about Clayton taking the baseball for us and us managing each game he throws.”
Kershaw rejected any suggestion that his shoulder is the problem, repeating “I feel fine” five times in a brief two-minute post-game interview.
“I feel fine. I feel fine. That’s not the problem. I feel fine,” he said to one direct question about the condition of his shoulder.
But there are clear red flags in his increasingly diminished velocity and struggle with command.
After averaging a season-low 89.6 mph with his fastball in five innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks last week, Kershaw lost even more velocity against the Marlins, averaging just 88.4 mph on 22 fastballs, the second-lowest of his career. Only a May 2018 start was lower – and Kershaw went on the injured list with a back injury the next day.
The five walks tied his season-high and ran his recent total to 10 in his past 17 innings. And he has allowed six home runs in six starts since returning from the injured list.
“It wasn’t great mechanically. Control and all that wasn’t great,” said Kershaw, adding that he would work with pitching coach Mark Prior on “a few thoughts” that might help.
“Yeah, just need to keep going. There’s really nothing else to do. Just try to pitch better.”
Kershaw has been far from transparent when discussing whatever injury landed him on the injured list for six weeks or what was revealed in an MRI of his shoulder at midseason. Tuesday’s parade of “I feel fine” offered no more insight.
Right-hander Tony Gonsolin pitched with a torn ligament in his elbow before undergoing Tommy John surgery last week. The Dodgers said he pitched until he couldn’t anymore, his command and stuff deteriorating.
Roberts would not say a similar surgical fate awaits Kershaw’s shoulder.
“I don’t know that answer right now,” Roberts said. “I do know with Tony and where he was at, surgery was inevitable. That’s not the case with Clayton. But certainly, with what he’s dealing with, it’s limiting. It is. Whether it’s stuff, command, but like I said, it’s really not even up for discussion to be quite honest because if he feels like he can take the ball, then he’s going to take the baseball.
“That’s kind of where we’re at, where I’m at, and then to kind of manage accordingly within each game and that’s a different question or topic.”
Kershaw still offered up a graduate class in run prevention and getting by with diminished stuff. He escaped a bases-loaded situation with one out in the second and stranded two more runners in the third inning. He got inning-ending double plays twice in the first four innings.
But he also gave up a solo home run to Jake Burger in the fourth inning (Burger’s fifth homer in seven games against the Dodgers this season) and a two-run homer to Josh Bell in the fifth inning that erased an early Dodger lead.
Kershaw has gone exactly five innings in five of his six starts since returning from a six-week stay on the IL with his unspecified shoulder injury – and the other start was a rain-suspended game in Cleveland. Despite pitching with obviously diminished stuff, Kershaw has a 2.86 ERA in those six starts with six home runs doing all the damage.
“With Clayton, you certainly see the desire to be effective. You certainly see the compete,” Roberts said. “I just think the last couple, you just haven’t seen the command. The stuff might be down. It’s where he’s at right now. Physically. But willing and wanting to take the baseball is huge.
“He just left a ball out over to Bell, or else he was in line for a win.”
Kershaw left the game with the Dodgers trailing, 3-2. Chris Taylor tied the score with a solo home run in the seventh inning, but Ryan Yarbrough gave up a two-run home run to Bryan De La Cruz in the eighth.
Six pitches later, Jazz Chisholm Jr. made it back-to-back home runs, sending a curveball at the bottom of the strike zone on a 436-foot ride into the nearly-empty upper deck in right field.
Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes left the game after being hit in the head by Nick Fortes’ backswing during Fortes’ seventh-inning at-bat.
“It got me good. Really squared me up,” Barnes said. “I’ve never been hit like that before.”
Barnes had a bruise on his left temple but said he never felt woozy or exhibited any concussion symptoms. He will be re-evaluated on Wednesday.
