Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw Set for Big Test Today on His Road to Recovery

Clayton Kershaw last pitched for the Dodgers on May 7th and his last outing was a dandy. He threw seven scoreless innings against the Cubs in the first game of the Dodgers split doubleheader at Wrigley Field. Six days later, he landed on the 15-day injured list with right SI joint inflammation.

Initially, the Dodgers pitcher, and team president Andrew Friedman, downplayed the injury. Friedman labeled it as a "flare-up" and noted how it shouldn't affect Kershaw throughout the year.

But last week, Kershaw noted how he's just going to have to deal with his balky back for the rest of his career. His current injury even resulted in Kershaw missing the first two stops of the Dodgers recent ten-game road trip as the hurler tried to recover in his home state of Texas.

However, things look to be trending up for the three-time Cy Young winner. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts stated on Tuesday that Clayton is progressing towards a return and could even start a minor league rehab assignment as soon as this weekend. But first, he'll to throw a bullpen without experiencing any lingering pain.

“Clayton feels good, he’s going to throw a bullpen tomorrow. I think he is scheduled to go out on Saturday on rehab, and it will be kind of a 3 or 4 inning situation. If it’s possible, he’ll go into the pen and throw another inning. So if all goes well, I could see him making that start and then 6 days after that be back with us.”

From Doc's statement, it sounds like there is a world where Kershaw is back on the bump for the Dodgers when they take on the Giants in San Francisco for a three-game set (June 10-12).

On the year, Kershaw owns a sparkling 1.80 in five starts (30.0 IP).