Dodgers Shut Down Clayton Kershaw Due To Back Soreness

Clayton Kershaw was in the middle of what could have been an all-time great season, but a back injury has sidelined him since his last start on June 26. Now the Los Angeles Dodgers have shut their ace down indefinitely after another setback.

Kershaw suffered what has been termed “a mild disk herniation” in his lower back, but was targeting a return this week at some point. However, after Kershaw threw a simulated game on Saturday, he was in pain again.

Kershaw is 11-2 this season with a 1.79 ERA, 0.73 WHIP and 145 strikeouts in 121.0 innings, with just nine walks allowed. His WHIP would be the lowest single-season mark in major league history, just beating Pedro Martinez’s mark of 0.737 from 2000. His strikeout-to-walk ratio of 16.1 would also shatter the previous record of 11.6, which was set by Phil Hughes in 2014. He’s obviously an enormous loss for Los Angeles.

The Dodgers are 11-6 without Kershaw, but their rotation isn’t striking fear into opponents’ hearts right now. Scott Kazmir, Bud Norris, Julio Urias, Brandon McCarthy and Kenta Maeda are all fine players, but together they aren’t exactly pitching’s version of murderer’s row.

The Dodgers are currently 4.5 games behind the San Francisco Giants for first-place in the National League West. Without Kershaw they can almost certainly flush their playoff hopes down the drain, unless they somehow add an ace before the trade deadline.