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The Los Angeles Dodgers will begin their 2024 MLB playoff run without Clayton Kershaw. And end it, too.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed to reporters Saturday, hours before the team is scheduled to face the San Diego Padres in the NLDS, that Kershaw has been ruled out for the entire 2024 postseason. The three-time Cy Young winner has been on the IL since August with a bone spur in his toe.
From the Associated Press:
“Clayton has done everything he can to keep this thing moving forward and giving himself a chance to participate in the postseason,” Roberts said. “But where he’s at right now, physically, the foot, the toe just is not cooperating. It’s actually getting worse.”
Kershaw re-signed with the Dodgers last offseason on an incentive-laden one-year deal. The contract was signed with the knowledge that the 36-year-old would not be ready until midway through the season after undergoing shoulder surgery following the 2023 season.
He ended up making his debut on July 25, and made a total of seven starts before running into the toe issue. Because he made seven starts, Kershaw will receive his $5 million base salary for 2024, $2.5 million in incentives and a $5 million player option for next season. He will receive none of his postseason bonuses, which were considerable.
The injury again creates the question of whether Kershaw has played his final game in a Dodger uniform. Part of the reason he came back was the brutal way his season ended last year, allowing six earned runs and getting only one out against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2024 NLDS, but this season wasn’t much better.
Kershaw posted a negative bWAR and a 4.50 ERA while averaging 4.3 innings per start. It has now been five years since Kershaw qualified for the ERA title, and nine since he broke 200 innings. Retirement could be as much a possibility for him as leaving for another team.
Roberts also said Saturday that veteran reliever Joe Kelly was left off the Dodgers’ NLDS roster after tweaking his shoulder in a simulated game, leaving the team without yet another pitcher while facing their NLDS rivals. In addition to Kershaw and Kelly, Los Angeles is missing the likes of Tyler Glasnow, Gavin Stone, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Brusdar Graterol and more.
On the Padres side, the team will be without All-Star starter Joe Musgrove, who is set to undergo Tommy John surgery.