WASHINGTON _ On Sunday in Los Angeles, a day after he completed a simulated game that looked like his final tuneup before rejoining the Los Angeles Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw met with team doctor Robert Watkins.
It was Watkins who initially prescribed an epidural for Kershaw's herniated disk last month. And it was Watkins who listened to Kershaw relay a recurrence of soreness in his lower back and advised him to rest until the discomfort subsided.
The setback pulls the rug out beneath a franchise awaiting the return of its left-handed anchor. On Tuesday, before the Dodgers defeated the Washington Nationals, 8-4, Manager Dave Roberts referred to a return date for Kershaw as "uncertain."
"When you're dealing with the back, there's always some concern, certainly," Roberts said. "But you're just hoping in the coming days there is some improvement."
Roberts revealed a series of injury issues before the game. The team scratched Hyun-Jin Ryu from a scheduled start Wednesday because of elbow tendinitis, placing him on the 15-day disabled list along with reliever Casey Fien, who is also suffering from elbow tendinitis. The Dodgers activated outfielder Joc Pederson, who has recovered from a sprained AC joint, and recalled reliever Luis Avilan.
Scrambling to align a rotation, the team will start Bud Norris on Wednesday and 19-year-old rookie Julio Urias on Thursday. The Dodgers had sent Urias to triple-A Oklahoma City to preserve innings as a reliever. He has pitched one inning since July 4.
Heading into the weekend, the Dodgers hoped Kershaw (11-2 with a 1.79 earned-run average) could start either Thursday in Washington or Friday in St. Louis. He completed four simulated innings Saturday at Dodger Stadium and revealed no physical issues during the outing, which led Roberts to remark that, barring any setbacks, all that remained for Kershaw was "figuring out what day we'd put him into our rotation."
His optimism was misguided. The symptoms Kershaw felt Sunday were similar to how he felt before the epidural, Roberts said. Kershaw has not picked up a baseball since Saturday, but team officials do not expect him to completely restart his throwing program in order to build up arm strength.
Neither do the Dodgers believe Kershaw will require another pain-killing injection. One team official described the prospect of surgery as "very unlikely." The team planned to monitor Kershaw on a daily basis and see how he recovers.
"I don't know if it's a step back," Roberts said. "But we're going to let the back pain subside and see where we go."
The club must take a similar approach with Ryu. He missed the entire 2015 season because of a torn labrum. He slogged through a lengthy rehab assignment, one interrupted by a bout with shoulder soreness, to return to the mound July 7. In a discouraging outing during which his fastball velocity faded, Ryu gave up six runs and could not finish the fifth inning against San Diego.
His arm failed to respond to the strain. The Dodgers placed him in the fifth spot in the rotation coming out of the break, which gave Ryu 12 days off between starts. The delay was not enough. Ryu felt inflammation "flare up" after a bullpen session Sunday, Roberts said. There was no timetable for a resumption of his throwing.
An MRI exam revealed no "notable changes" in his elbow from previous examinations, said Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations. Ryu has pitched through issues with his elbow after more than 1,600 innings split between the majors and his seven-year career in Korea.
"We're disappointed for him, and the time that he's put into coming back, and for us," Roberts said. "It's something that's not a new injury, in the sense that there's been something before in the elbow. It's disappointing, but we'll see where we go from there."
The continued absence of Kershaw stings for a club so reliant upon him during the first half of the season. Although the team has not foundered since he went on the disabled list, team officials understand how vital his presence is for the Dodgers' championship aspirations.
"Clayton is going to do everything he can to get back," Roberts said. "But, yeah, we're better when he's active, obviously. It's something we've got to deal with. We've got to continue to try to win baseball games."
