Dodgers place Clayton Kershaw on injured list with left shoulder soreness

Ending a discussion that took place daily on last week’s road trip, the Dodgers on Monday placed Clayton Kershaw on the injured list with left shoulder soreness, retroactive to Friday.

Kershaw left his start at Coors Field last Tuesday after just 79 pitches, and later had a cortisone shot in the shoulder to deal with inflammation. Backdating the move to Friday means the earliest Kershaw could return is Saturday, July 15, the second game after the All-Star break.

In the immediate future, Michael Grove starts Monday against the Pirates, with Kershaw’s IL stint the mechanism to return Grove inside of 15 days on optional assignment.

But also up is Gavin Stone, who was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City, with left-hander Victor González optioned.

It was clear Stone was a possible option by the progression of Oklahoma City game notes last week. On Wednesday, Stone was listed as Thursday’s starting pitcher. On Thursday, he was listed to start Friday. In Friday’s notes he was listed to start that night, but Oklahoma City went with a bullpen game instead. On Saturday, Stone was listed to start on Sunday, but that start went to Matt Andriese.

Stone, who last pitched on June 23, will be available in long relief.

Since last getting optioned, Stone hasn’t done well in Triple-A, with a 12.00 ERA in four starts. Even if we remove his worst game of that stretch — allowing 10 runs while recording 10 outs on June 17 — Stone still allowed 14 runs in 14⅔ innings in his other three outings.

Grove in the majors this season has a 7.54 ERA in nine games, allowing 31 runs in 37 innings.

But at this point, the Dodgers just need some semblance of length from as many pitchers as possible. They have six games this week, which means at least 54 innings to cover to get through the All-Star break. Then comes five days off for a pitching staff that’s been running on fumes for a month and a half.

Kershaw is the seventh Dodgers starting pitcher to be placed on the injured list this season, which doesn’t count Walker Buehler, who is recovering from his 2022 Tommy John surgery.

With Kershaw out through the break, that opens up a spot on the pitching staff of the National League All-Star roster.