Kershaw on track to start on Thursday

LOS ANGELES —— Manager Dave Roberts said today that he is planning to start Clayton Kershaw on Thursday in the series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies.

“Right now as we see it, Thursday is looks very viable,” Roberts said, “it will have been, on Thursday, four weeks, threw four innings yesterday, so I think that he’s been playing catch, I don’t really have a number, I think, he’s fine to go deep depending on how’s he throwing.”

“It’s good, it’s great and I am happy for Clayton just feeling healthy,” Roberts said, “Performing is one thing but if he feels healthy and strong, I would bet on obviously the performance.”

“It’s a big lift, you’ve got our ace coming back,” Roberts said, “we’ve kind of righted the ship a little bit, trending in the right direction, getting him back every fifth day is obviously to compare it to kind of getting JT back on the position player front, it is pretty comparable.”

Kershaw went on the disabled list on May 6, 2018 for biceps tendonitis. He threw his first bullpen last Wednesday and as mentioned above, he pitched a four inning simulated game yesterday.

Kershaw last started on May 1st against the Arizona Diamondbacks. If he returns on Thursday, he will have been on the disabled list for 22 games.