It was only Clayton Kershaw’s third game of the season.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts underscored that point Tuesday night when he reversed his decision to strike Kershaw out in the fifth inning of a promising start against the Philadelphia Phillies.
“It’s about continuing to build so he has a base and a foundation to go on,” Roberts said. “So for me, it was an easy one at this point.”
The key words: Now.
By the time Kershaw takes his next turn in the rotation, the Dodgers may not have the luxury of removing him at the first sign of trouble. By the time they’re in the playoffs, they almost certainly won’t be able to manage him as carefully as they would a rookie.
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Even after a billion-dollar offseason and the acquisition of the best pitcher sold at the trade deadline, the Dodgers are back to where they are this time of year.
They’re relying on Clayton Kershaw again.
They may not like the idea of basing their season on a 36-year-old who underwent major shoulder surgery last winter, but their situation leaves them no choice. After losing 6-2 to the Phillies in the second game of their three-game series at Dodger Stadium, their lead over the San Diego Padres in the National League West was cut to four games.
Their injury-prone rotation has unraveled as expected, and Kershaw may need to pitch effectively to give the Dodgers a realistic shot at winning the World Series. Tyler Glasnow and Jack Flaherty will lead their staff for the remainder of the regular season and beyond, but who do they have behind them? They will likely need three starting pitchers in the National League Division Series, four in the two series after that.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been out for nearly two months with a shoulder injury and isn’t expected to return until September. Gavin Stone appears worn out. Walker Buehler has aborted his first attempt to return after his latest elbow reconstruction. Bobby Miller hasn’t even made it to the Major Leagues yet. River Ryan has started just three times in his career.
What the Dodgers ask of Kershaw could also be affected by the state of the bullpen. Evan Phillips’s loss of form last month left the Dodgers without a closer. Brusdar Graterol’s return from a shoulder injury lasted just eight pitches, as Graterol suffered a serious hamstring injury that is expected to end his season. The shortage of bullpen resources has been compounded by the inability of starters to pitch deep into games. Dodgers starters have combined for 577⅔ innings, fifth fewest in the NL.
In other words, the next time Kershaw is in a situation as dire as he was in the fifth inning against the Phillies, Roberts may not have a usable arm to replace him. The manager’s only option may be to let him pitch through.
Six days after a nightmare start in San Diego in which he lasted just 3⅔ innings and looked finished, Kershaw was a new pitcher on Tuesday. His fastball remained in the low 90s, but he controlled his pitch better and threw more curveballs, helping him limit the NL’s best team to one run in 4⅔ innings.
“This guy is the best competitor I’ve ever been around,” Roberts said. “He just pushed himself to have a good game.”
The Phillies had runners on the corners with one out in the fourth inning, but Kershaw escaped by retiring Alec Bohm and forcing JT Realmuto to ground out. There was more turmoil in the fifth inning when Austin Hays doubled and Brandon Marsh was hit by a pitch. Kershaw finished off a nine-pitch at-bat by the persistent Edmundo Sosa with a strikeout, but gave up only a run-scoring single to Kyle Schwarber that put the Phillies ahead, 1-0.
There were two outs, but the Phillies had runners at the corners. Next up was a right-handed All-Star, Trea Turner, who would face Kershaw for the third time. Roberts came in for Kershaw, replacing him with Joe Kelly, who had Turner line out to center field. The Phillies blew the game open by scoring three runs in the sixth inning.
“You never want to get out of the game,” said Kershaw, who threw 81 pitches.
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Kershaw, however, did not direct his frustration at Roberts. He blamed himself for his early exit, and named the two batters who reached base after he had forced them back in 0-2 counts.
“I just made a couple of dumb mistakes,” Kershaw said. “I just have to figure out how to keep my pitch count up. Obviously my pitch count is going to keep going up, but you have to figure out how to get at least five [innings]six or seven at any given time.”
Roberts said of the way Kershaw focused on what he could control: “That’s what I respect.”
This mindset explains why Kershaw has a chance to be a difference-maker when his pitches aren’t as explosive as they used to be. Provided he makes the improvements he wants to make, the Dodgers have an obligation to test the limits of this version of Kershaw. They owe it not just to him, but to the other players as well. To win, they need him.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
