Dodgers News: LA Continues Cautious Approach with Clayton Kershaw, Will Remain Out a Bit Longer

It's been a slow and steady process for him.

Clayton Kershaw was in the middle of an excellent year, and the future Hall of Fame lefty in his age-35 season had again established himself as the Los Angeles Dodgers ace, and seemed to be an early NL Cy Young Award contender as the season approached its halfway point.

Then June 27 came, and while Kershaw vanquished his Coors Field demons when he threw six innings of one-hit ball, injury concerns were abundant when the dominant left-hander left that start after just 76 pitches.

Those fears were realized soon after, and it eventually led to Kershaw going on the injured list with shoulder soreness, a status he's been mired in since.

Everything seemed to be going well as he worked his way back, until Dodgers manager Dave Roberts somewhat cryptically announced that his return timeline would be adjusted.

The team's taken a cautious approach with their prized left-hander since, and though he threw a simulated game at Dodger Stadium last week, he'll make a repeat performance of that on Thursday, in a move that puts him in line to return to game action next week, per Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.

#Dodgers MGR Dave Roberts said Clayton Kershaw will face live batters in another simulated game on Thursday, pushing the LHP's return to rotation back to early next week.

— Mike DiGiovanna (@MikeDiGiovanna) July 30, 2023

The team is anxiously awaiting the return of their top of the rotation arm who had a 2.55 ERA through 16 starts before soreness afflicted him, production good enough to earn him a second consecutive All-Star accolade.

When he eventually does make his way back to game action, he'll return to a somewhat new-look rotation.

The Dodgers acquired Lance Lynn from the Chicago White Sox last week in an attempt to bolster their starting depth ahead of Tuesday afternoon's trade deadline.

But the team may not be done upgrading just yet as they've been linked to multiple big name hurlers in recent days, most notably current New York Met Justin Verlander.