260 days of rehab work finally returns to major league pitcher Hill Kershaw: Grateful

Dodgers head coach Dave Roberts recently announced that 37-year-old veteran Clayton Kershaw will start the first game of the season this Sunday (18th), and Kershaw said in an interview today (16th) that he has only gratitude and gratitude at this time.

Kershaw's last major league appearance was on August 31, 2024, and after eight and a half months, he finally returned to the Pitcher Mound when he will be on the board in Game 2 of the Los Angeles series against the Angels.

"Honestly, I'm more grateful right now, when you haven't been on the pitch for a long time and you realize you want to be part of the team and contribute, I think it's more grateful and thankful to be back on the court in this situation," Kershaw said.

'Now, if I don't play well, I'm going to leave the game very quickly, that's from a game point of view, but I think I'm very excited to be back in the team even if I'm sitting on the sidelines.

Although the Dodgers have a lot of starting pitchers, there are too many injuries to cause the starting pitchers to pitch the fewest innings in the major leagues and the most innings in the bullpen before today's game with the Athletics, while Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Langshi Sasaki are on the injury list and force the Dodgers to take a four-man rotation of Landon Knack, Yushin Yamamoto, Tony Gonsolin, and Dustin May at this stage, and Kershaw is the pitcher interspersed with the period.

The good news, however, is that Kershaw's 2.57 ERA in 21 games in five minor league games this season, combined with his extensive major league experience, gives him a chance to take on his current role.

"When you're no longer worried about feeling bad and you're worried about pitching, I think it means you know you're going through it," Kershaw said. In the last few rehab games I've focused more on throwing the ball and tackling the hitter than on the feeling of the feet, so I think that's a good sign for fitness."

However, Kershaw will face a strange situation on Sunday, which is that he will not be paired with Austin Barnes, the crown catcher, as the Dodgers have removed Barnes from the 40-man roster and moved the farm's rookie catcher Dalton Rushing to the major leagues, so the catcher could be the main catcher Will Smith or rookie Rushing.

Speaking about Barnes, Kershaw said: "I think everybody was surprised, he wanted to win more than anybody, he always found a way and he played a couple of key moments over the years. I think what people forget is that he also started many playoff games and helped the team win. So it's sad to see someone like him who has been in this team for so many years not here, and I'm not disrespectful to Dalton, just for me, I think a lot of people in the team are disappointed with Barnes' departure."