Clayton Kershaw's Return Timeline Gets Closer For the Dodgers

The 3-time Cy Young winner, 10-time All-Star and 2-time World Series champ Clayton Kershaw will take a huge step towards a return to the LA Dodgers rotation on Wednesday, as he begins a rehab assignment.

#Dodgers MGR Dave Roberts said LHP Clayton Kershaw, who is not eligible to be activated until May 17, will begin a rehab assignment with triple-A OKC on Wednesday.
— Mike DiGiovanna (@MikeDiGiovanna) April 11, 2025

Kershaw will start at Triple-A Oklahoma City, just one month away from his scheduled activation date (from the 60-day IL) of May 17th.

The 37-year-old has been taking things year-by-year in recent seasons, with every year ending with Dodgers fans wondering if he'll be back. But Kershaw didn't want to go out coming off a season in which he was only able to make seven starts due to a multitude of injury problems.

Toe and knee troubles ended his season early, keeping him out of the Dodgers' playoff run to the World Series last fall.

Kershaw hasn't thrown more than 132 innings in a season since 2019, and he certainly won't again this year. But anything LA can get from their legendary ace will be welcomed, as when he does pitch, it's always with elite results. Last year's 4.50 ERA in the minuscule sample of seven games was only his third time with an ERA over 3.03 in his 17 seasons.

He has a career 2.50 ERA, which is tops among all active pitchers in baseball, as is his ERA+ of 156, his hits allowed per nine innings at 6.9 and his HR allowed per nine, at 0.7.

He'll be welcomed back with open arms, though the Dodgers have a super-crowded starting staff, with Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dustin May and Landon Knack currently active, with Blake Snell on the IL and some guy named Shohei Ohtani itching to get back on the mound as well. It's a nice problem to have, but a challenging one, nonetheless.