PHOENIX –Clayton Kershaw is back on the Injured List.
Kershaw was placed on the IL Saturday with a bone spur in the big toe on his left foot. The veteran left-hander left his start against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night after facing just seven batters because of pain in the toe.
After the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts revealed that Kershaw has been dealing with the bone spur for “a couple years, off and on.”
“Just seeing the toe this morning, there’s so much swelling. He can barely move around, move it,” Roberts said before Saturday’s game. “So it’s the right decision.”
Roberts said Kershaw would likely get scans on the toe to develop a treatment plan going forward. The hope is he will miss just the required 15 days and return to the Dodgers’ starting rotation without requiring a long buildup.
“I think each day we’ll know more,” Roberts said. “I’m sure in Clayton’s head right now is to get this to subside and get back as soon as he can. But I just think that we just won’t know until we can kind of get the swelling down.”
If Kershaw is ready to resume pitching at the end of 15 days, the “best-case scenario” would be for him to make three starts before the end of the season and potentially earn a place in the Dodgers’ postseason rotation. Roberts would not entertain questions about whether or not Kershaw’s spot on a postseason roster is in jeopardy.
“That’s not where any of our heads are now,” he said. “Our expectation is he will (be on the postseason roster).”
Kershaw’s early exit Friday forced the bullpen to cover eight innings in relief. Dodgers’ relievers have pitched 19 ⅓ innings over the past four days and reinforcements arrived en masse from Triple-A Oklahoma City Saturday.
Right-hander Ben Casparius was added to the active roster with Kershaw going on the IL. Casparius was promoted to the Dodgers last week but did not appear in a game. When he does it will be his major-league debut.
Right-hander Brent Honeywell Jr. was also recalled from OKC and took the roster spot of Joe Kelly who was also placed on the IL with shoulder inflammation.
Left-hander Justin Wrobleski also joined the Dodgers in Arizona Saturday. He will be added when rosters expand on Sunday and start against the Diamondbacks. Wrobleski has gone 1-1 with a 4.68 ERA in five starts for the Dodgers this season.
Teams can add one pitcher and one position player on Sept. 1. Outfielder Andy Pages is expected to be recalled as the position player.
Will Smith’s three-run home run in Friday’s win was just his second home run in his past 34 games, a stretch that saw him bat .171 (21 for 123). His slump goes back even further – since the start of June he has batted .196 with a .652 OPS.
But Roberts said he has seen positive signs in Smith’s at-bats recently despite a lack of results – he was just 4 for 29 before Saturday.
“The quality of contact has been considerably better the last week,” Roberts said. “I just know that he’s not getting the results that are a result of how he’s swinging. … But he’s been swinging the bat better. I think physically he’s good. And he’s cleaned some things up mechanically with the guys.”
Roberts said Smith has not shown a loss of confidence during this extended slump, nor has he let it affect his defense.
“He doesn’t really show it overtly. But no one likes stinking at the plate,” Roberts said. “I’m sure that kind of gets frustrating. But he doesn’t take it into his defense, which I really applaud that. He’s probably the best .243 hitter in the game. I just think that he’s starting to kind of get going again.”
Reliever Brusdar Graterol threw to hitters Saturday afternoon and will travel to Triple-A Oklahoma City to start a rehab assignment there on Tuesday.
Graterol missed most of the season with a persistent shoulder problem then injured his hamstring just nine pitches into his first game of the season.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto is also scheduled to pitch for OKC on Tuesday. It will be his second rehab start as he works back from a rotator cuff strain that has sidelined him since June 15.
Dodgers (LHP Justin Wrobleski, 1-1, 4.68 ERA) at Diamondbacks (RHP Brandon Pfaadt, 8-7, 4.31 ERA), Sunday, 1:10 p.m., Roku, 570 AM
