Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Copyrighted by Sarah Morris, 2024
After seventeen years with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw, a future Hall of Famer, finally got a full-season world championship. On Monday, he turned down a player option but intends to return to the Dodgers for the 2025 season.
The 2024 season was the first season that Kershaw was recovering from a major surgery. During the 2023-24 offseason, he had surgery to repair his glenohumeral ligaments. His rehabilitation program went well.
Kershaw returned to the Dodger Stadium mound after the All-Star break against the San Francisco Giants. In his 2024 season debut, he was vintage Kershaw. For the next few starts, he was inconsistent, expected for a pitcher recovering from surgery. By the middle of August, Kershaw was the best Dodger starter.
Then, Kershaw faced the Arizona Diamondbacks on August 30th. Something was drastically wrong with him since his velocity was gone. He lasted only an inning and allowed three runs.
After that start, it was revealed Kershaw had a bone spur in his left big toe. Though Kershaw tried valiantly to return to the mound, he couldn’t. He watched the 2024 postseason from the dugout.
During the Dodger world championship parade, the crowd gave Kershaw love, knowing that it might be the last time they would see Kershaw.
On Monday, the Los Angeles Times revealed that Kershaw will undergo two surgeries. One will involve his foot, and the other one will repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. No one will know how the thirty-six-year-old left-handed pitcher will respond to the surgeries.
Many times, Kershaw has said he would retire if he couldn’t be great. Kershaw wants to be a Dodger for life. I expect to see him at Camelback Ranch in February 2025.
