Future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw made his 2024 debut Thursday. The Los Angeles Dodgers activated Kershaw off the 60-day injured list prior to his start against the rival San Francisco Giants (GameTracker) and he surrendered two runs on six hits and two walks in four innings while being held to a pitch count.
"I'm excited to get back," Kershaw said Wednesday (via the Associated Press). "It's been a long time. Longest time I've ever spent not pitching in a big-league game. Obviously, once you get back out there you've just got to perform."
Here is Kershaw's first of six strikeouts Thursday. He is now 50 strikeouts short of 3,000 for his career. Kershaw will be the 20th member of the 3,000-strikeout club when he gets there. Only Randy Johnson (4,875), Steve Carlton (4,136), and CC Sabathia (3,093) have more strikeouts among left-handed pitchers.
Kershaw threw more sliders (32) than fastballs (24) in his season debut, which isn't completely out of the ordinary for him. His fastball averaged 90.6 mph and topped out at 91.8 mph, which is good velocity for Kershaw at this point in his career and right in line with last year. The Giants opened the third inning with four straight hits to score their two runs. Other than that four-batter stretch, Kershaw looked solid.
The 36-year-old pitcher had major shoulder surgery in November -- specifically, his glenohumeral ligaments and capsule were repaired -- and he has spent the last several months rehabbing. He allowed four runs in 10 innings in three minor-league rehab starts. In his most recent appearance, Kershaw threw four innings and 67 pitches. He threw 71 pitches Thursday.
"I think watching as far as stressful innings. If a pitch count kicks up in an inning or back-to-back high pitch counts. Not even overall total pitches," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said about Kershaw's pitch limit on Wednesday (via the Associated Press). "The most important part is getting him built up and ready for October. It has been a long process for him, and we've got coverage, so whatever happens, we'll be prepared for that."
Kershaw's return comes at the good time for the Dodgers, who still have five starters on the major-league injured list -- Walker Buehler, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Emmet Sheehan, Yoshinobu Yamamoto -- and lost touted prospect Kyle Hurt to Tommy John surgery earlier this week. Buehler and Yamamoto are expected back in the coming weeks. The others are done for 2024.
The Dodgers currently have Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow, and rookies River Ryan, Gavin Stone, and Justin Wrobleski in their rotation. Stone has been in the rotation all season and, frankly, has been their most consistent starter. Ryan and Wrobleski were more recent call ups. Bobby Miller, who struggled in the majors earlier this year, and Landon Knack are the depth options in Triple-A.
Los Angeles enters Thursday's game with a 61-42 record and a 7 1/2-game lead in the NL West. Last season Kershaw threw 131 2/3 innings with a 2.46 ERA in the regular season. He got pounded for six runs while recording just one out in the NLDS start.