Dodgers: How long to expect Clayton Kershaw to be out of action

If you have not heard the news, you’re in for a rude awakening. Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw is set to hit the 10-day DL with bicep tendonitis.

Yikes, this is perhaps the worst news you can hear about your ace pitcher. Clayton Kershaw is hitting the 10-day DL with bicep tendonitis in his throwing arm; a much scarier injury than the back injury that haunted him in years past. The timetable to return has not yet been given by the Dodgers.

Kershaw adds to a large list of Dodger players that have sat out with injury. Fellow pitchers Rich Hill and Hyun-Jin Ryu have both had DL stints; Hill being reactivated in wake of this injury and Ryu out until at least the All-Star Break.

That goes along with the Dodgers losing the two best hitters on the team, Corey Seager and Justin Turner. Turner has not seen playing time this season after fracturing his wrist in Spring Training after being hit by a pitch. Seager played a month and will miss all of 2018 after having Tommy John.

Adding to this list is Yasiel Puig, Logan Forsythe, who are both on the 10-day DL. Pitchers Tom Koehler and Julio Urias also have not appeared this season.

The Dodgers are likely going to give some sort of timetable in the immediate future, but it may be foggier than the team thinks. Bicep tendonitis has a wide domain, it can hold Kershaw down for a week or a year, depending on the severity. That is Kershaw is flying back to LA to be examined by Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the same doctor that examined Seager’s elbow.

Thus, the best way to examine a possible timetable is to look at past MLB pitchers with bicep tendonitis.

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In 2014, southpaw Cole Hamels suffered the same bicep tendonitis. An article posted by Noah Jarosh on SB Nation was posted in February regarding the injury; an injury Hamels dealt with all off-season.

Hamels ended up making his season debut on April 23, missing about three weeks of the regular season. However, again, the important thing to note is that he was dealing with it all off-season.

In 2015, late pitcher Jose Fernandez had a bicep strain that led to him missing a month of action. Although it is not the exact same injury, it is a similar injury to consider in the throwing arm.

The most recent example of this injury was in 2017 in left-handed pitcher Jeff Locke. Locke was shut down with elbow tendonitis on February 20, so it was before the season began. Locke did not pitch until June 1. Yikes.

The Dodgers really could be looking at three months without Clayton Kershaw, and that could be generous. The 10-day DL should not be giving fans comfort, as Kershaw may not pitch at all the rest of the year.

While that is not the most likely outcome, it is possible. It is also possible that Kershaw only misses two or three starts.

Next: Could Matt Harvey be the answer?

However, three months is the magic number that we currently have until we are given more information. If that is the case, we may not see Clayton Kershaw until mid-August.

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