Los Angeles Dodgers: You should be worried about Clayton Kershaw

The Los Angeles Dodgers have temporarily shut Clayton Kershaw after a frustrating bullpen session and it should absolutely alarm the fans.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have arguably the deepest pitching staff in Major League Baseball. That pitching staff potentially took a blow early into Spring Training as Clayton Kershaw is again experiencing problems.

Dave Roberts has indefinitely shut Kershaw down after a poor bullpen session on Wednesday that was on the heels of a poor live session on Monday.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are being rather mysterious about the nature of the bullpens. It appears that Kershaw just “doesn’t feel right” but it also appears that it is not that serious. Perhaps it is just soreness in his throwing arm; like the first time you pick up a golf club after a month of rain.

It does not appear that this will hold Kershaw out for too long and if anything the Dodgers are just being extra cautious. We still have over a month until Opening Day. There is no point of burning Kershaw out in games and sessions that don’t even matter.

While it is smart to do that and is understandable, that should not stop the fans from worrying about the team’s ace. If this was an isolated incident it would be one thing; it is not, this is just another variable in an already complex equation.

Kershaw has battled various injuries the last several years and is a 30-year-old that has the wear and tear of a 35-year-old. Last season we saw his velocity dip all the way down to 90 miles per hour, which is a huge drop off from when Kershaw was at his best.

Kershaw does not have to pump 97 to be successful with his location and breaking stuff, but he should be looking to be sitting at least 93-94.

After an offseason of rest, workouts and a three-year, $31 million contract, many were hopeful that Kershaw could make strides to hit 93 on the radar gun.

And maybe he is in these sessions, we don’t really know that. But sitting out because of arm discomfort is just another step back in Kershaw getting to that benchmark. Say what you want about Kershaw and be as optimistic as you want, he is not going to win Cy Youngs throwing 90 miles per hour.

Plus, if he is already regressing at 30 years old there is the scary possibility that in 2021 he is barely hitting the 90s if at all. Kershaw threw the fourth-most innings from 2009 to 2015 and added another 61.2 innings in the postseason on top of his 1503.1 innings.

That eventually is going to take a toll on someone and it obviously already has on Kershaw. The last thing Dodger fans need to hear is that his arm is already bothering him.

We saw it last year with Kenley Jansen, who was protected in Spring Training. Jansen got off to an absolutely horrendous start after posting one of the best years by a closer ever. Even is Kershaw is ready on Opening Day, limited work in Spring Training is going to cause a learning curve, even for the best pitcher in baseball.

We are not in panic mode, not quite yet. However, we certainly are worried about Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers.