Clayton Kershaw goes to Injured List with back…
Clayton Kershaw goes to Injured List with back stiffness
Dustin May will start the opener in his place for the Dodgers
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is pictured with pitcher Clayton Kershaw during summer camp. Kershaw, scheduled to be the opening day starting pitcher, was put on the Injured List instead. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
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LOS ANGELES >> From 2011 to 2018, traffic jams, sellout crowds and Clayton Kershaw were givens on Opening Day. None were part of Opening Day 2020.
For the second season in a row, Kershaw will open the regular season on the Injured List. In 2019, his franchise-record run of eight consecutive season-opening starts ended due to a spring-long battle with a sore shoulder.
This year, however, Kershaw appeared as healthy as he had been in years during the aborted spring training in February and March, avoiding the back problems that had been an annual issue for him from 2016 through 2018. He arrived at Summer Camp having thrown multiple innings in workouts and was on track to start Thursday night's opener against the San Francisco Giants.
During a workout in the weight room on Tuesday, however, Kershaw began experiencing back stiffness and the Dodgers chose to place him on the IL and start Dustin May against the Giants.
"His back stiffened up and he got treatment on it that night, felt better," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "Yesterday (Wednesday), he came in, felt a little bit better. Then this morning, just (talking) with the training staff, just to make sure we err on the side of caution, we didn't feel that it was prudent to start him."
Roberts would not speculate on how long Kershaw will be sidelined but did say he would be eligible to come off the IL next week when the Dodgers are in Arizona.
"I don't know the timetable. And I don't think it'd be too responsible to try to take a stab," Roberts said. "I just hope that every day he gets better and better and we can get him on the mound again as soon as possible."
May, 22, becomes the Dodgers' youngest Opening Day starter since a slightly-younger 22-year-old Fernando Valenzuela started the opener in 1983. May was not on the initial season-opening roster announced by the Dodgers Thursday morning but was recalled and added to the roster. Roberts said May was put on alert Wednesday and did not throw to hitters as originally planned.
"He's just very unflappable," Roberts said of May. "He's a very confident young man. He's got obviously really good stuff. So it's something where when a change of plans happens, Dustin adjusts very well.
"I think that the disappointment, for me, is for Clayton, because he's as prepared as any player I've ever been around and starting on Opening Day means a lot to him. For him to not get to experience it for the night, I think I just feel for him."
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