Kershaw ‘grateful’ to finally return for 2025 debut
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Alden Gonzalez
LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw‘s 18th season will officially begin Saturday when he toes the rubber at Dodger Stadium to pitch in his first meaningful game in nearly nine months.
Kershaw spent the first half of last season rehabbing from shoulder surgery. He returned in late July, then made seven starts before the pain in one of his toes became too much to bear. When the Los Angeles Dodgers used recurrent bullpen games to win a championship the ensuing fall, Kershaw only watched.
These days, joining a rotation means a little more than it used to for the veteran.
“I think there’s more gratitude, honestly,” Kershaw, 37, said. “When you haven’t done something for a long time and realize that you miss being part of a team and contributing, I think there’s a lot of gratitude and gratefulness to get back to that point. I definitely feel that. Now if I go out there and don’t pitch good, it’s going to go away really fast. There’s a performance aspect to that. But I think for now, sitting on the other side of it, just super excited and grateful to go back out there again.”
Kershaw underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee and a ruptured plantar plate in his left big toe in November, then signed his fourth consecutive one-year deal with the Dodgers around the start of spring training in mid-February. At that point, the Dodgers were coming off another headline-grabbing offseason, having added Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki to their rotation. Kershaw’s return was seen as superfluous. Now, it’s a necessity.
Snell, Sasaki and Tyler Glasnow are on the IL with shoulder injuries, leaving the Dodgers with what amounts to a four-man staff that has once again required them to routinely deploy a slew of relievers rather than a traditional starter. As a result, Dodgers relievers have compiled a major-league-leading 181⅔ innings.
If minor league results are any indication, though, Kershaw could provide a legitimate boost. In five starts with three Dodgers affiliates, Kershaw posted a 2.57 ERA with 16 strikeouts and five walks in 21 innings.
“When you stop worrying about feeling bad and you start worrying about performance, I think that’s kind of when you know that you’ve turned the corner,” Kershaw said. “Those last few rehab starts, I was more concerned about throwing well and getting guys out than I was how my foot felt or anything like that. I think that was a good sign for me physically.”
Saturday’s start, against the neighboring Los Angeles Angels, will feel different to Kershaw for one reason in particular:
Austin Barnes, one of his oldest and closest friends, won’t be there for it.
The Dodgers essentially replaced Barnes with top prospect Dalton Rushing on Tuesday, ending an 11-year run in which Barnes was mostly a backup catcher but made contributions both on and off the field. Kershaw threw to Barnes for 86 of his career starts, second behind only A.J. Ellis, his close friend and trusted catcher through the first half of his career. Kershaw threw to Barnes in 45 games from 2021 to 2024, including the playoffs — eight more than he threw to the Dodgers’ primary catcher, Will Smith. His ERA with Barnes in that stretch (2.68) was nearly a run better than it was with Smith (3.65).
“I think everybody was surprised,” Kershaw said of the Dodgers designating Barnes for assignment. “You won’t find a guy who competes better than Austin Barnes. He wants to win more than anybody, and he always found a way. He came up with some big moments for us throughout the years. I think people forget he was starting a lot of playoff games, winning a lot of games for us, getting big knocks.
“It’s sad to see someone like that go who’s been there that long. I think we all kind of feel it. It’s no disrespect to Dalton; I know he deserves it. He’s going to be a great player. It’s just, for me personally and I think for a lot of guys on the team, it’s disappointing to see him go.”
Kershaw is long removed from his days of accumulating 200-plus innings and being one of the game’s most dominant forces, but he has proved to be highly effective despite losing velocity off his fastball and absorbing a litany of injuries. Among pitchers who compiled at least 400 innings from 2020 to 2023, Kershaw’s 2.67 ERA was the second lowest in the majors, slightly behind Max Fried‘s 2.66.
Last season — 4.50 ERA and a career-low 18% strikeout rate — was a struggle. But it put Kershaw just 32 strikeouts away from 3,000, a milestone only 19 others have reached. Asked if he has thought about getting there, Kershaw smiled and said, “I’ve thought about Saturday a lot.”
“I’ve thought about getting back out there,” he said. “I haven’t really thought about [3,000 strikeouts] a whole lot. For me, just getting back on the mound is a big step. Then it’s the rest of the season.”
The 150th running of the Preakness won’t have the fanfare of previous years.
There will be no Triple Crown on the line and no rematch of the 1-2 finishers in the Kentucky Derby after trainer Bill Mott elected to point Sovereignty toward the Belmont and bypass the Preakness.
Just three horses who ran in the Kentucky Derby will run in the Preakness on Saturday — Journalism, who finished second to Sovereignty, American Promise (16th) and Sandman (seventh). Nine horses will enter the race, including several newcomers to the Triple Crown trail.
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While a Kentucky Derby winner skipping the Preakness is a rarity over the history of the race, it’s become more common in recent years. Country House, who won the 2019 Kentucky Derby after Maximum Security was disqualified, was not entered into the race by Mott due to a cough. Other ailments ended his career early and he never raced again.
Rich Strike was not entered in the 2022 Preakness and neither was 2021 winner Mandaloun, who was not declared the official winner of the Kentucky Derby until Medina Spirit was officially disqualified after failing a postrace drug test.
The modern order of the Triple Crown races, with the Kentucky Derby first and the Belmont last, was established permanently in 1932, with some exceptions. Notable Kentucky Derby winners who skipped the second leg are: Grindstone (1996, career-ending injury), Spend a Buck (1985), Gato Del Sol (1982), Tomy Lee (1959), Swaps (1955), Determine (1954), Hill Gail (1952), Count Turf (1951) and Lawrin (1938).
This will be the final Preakness run at Pimlico for several years, as the 155-year-old track is set to undergo renovations for the next several years, including the replacement of the current grandstand for a smaller version. The Preakness will move to Laurel Park until renovations are complete.
Betting the Preakness
by Katherine Terrell
What’s the big draw now that the Kentucky Derby winner is out of the race? Journalism, who went off as the betting favorite in the race, gets a chance for redemption.
While putting Journalism on top of our Kentucky Derby bets didn’t quite pan out, he’s certainly going to be a worthy, and heavy, favorite in this race. Don’t take his second-place finish as a knock on his talent — he’s the most accomplished horse in this field.
What about Sandman, who drew significant attention in the Kentucky Derby due to his name? Sandman was named after the Metallica Song “Enter Sandman,” and the band recently posted a video cheering him on ahead of the Preakness.
Sandman’s trainer Mark Casse said the horse had tender feet going into his last race, causing him to sport glue-on shoes, but he has since been switched back to normal horseshoes. Sandman is a closer, meaning he would need a fast pace up front to be able to pass tiring horses and win this race.
Some of the more intriguing newcomers are Goal Oriented, trained by Bob Baffert and Steve Asmussen trainee Clever Again. Both are lightly raced, and bettors who are looking for better odds than Journalism provides might hope one of these two horses takes a step forward.
That’s the same situation as Gosger, who is 20-1 on the morning line but recently won the Grade III Lexington Stakes. He will also have to take a step forward or hope Journalism runs poorly off two weeks rest.
Journalism can sit back off the pace and hope the leaders get into a speed duel, a possibility with a lot of speed in the race. Either way, he’ll be a tough favorite to bet.
About the above chart: A Beyer number is a ratings system for speed during races. Some think horses need at least one race where they run a 95 Beyer number or over to be competitive in the Derby. Many of these horses have races where they’ve run over a 100 Beyer number or better.
The logical bet: Journalism to win (8-5) but will require a large bet to get a decent return.
The slightly better odds bet: Clever Again to win (5-1)
Two suggested bets:
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Exacta box: Journalism/Clever Again
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Trifecta: Journalism over Clever Again over River Thames, Gosger.
Best plays
by Anita Marks
No. 2 Journalism (8-5) is favored and rightfully so. He ran a great race in the Derby, but Sovereignty was just the better horse that day. With such a small field (nine horses), along with his pedigree, Journalism should dominate.
Other horses I fancy in the Preakness:
Clever Again (5-1) is a unique animal with a lot of talent. I believe he is the second-best horse in the race. Son of American Pharaoh — who won the Triple Crown — and trained by Steve Asmussen, an excellent trainer. He is super fast, is in great form and is training well.
Goal Oriented (6-1): A Bob Baffert horse. and will have one of the best jockeys on his back in Flavien Prat. He has the speed to come out of the No. 1 post and will be sent hard. Son of Not This Time and was the winner of a 1 1/16-mile race on the Kentucky Derby undercard. This will be his third race.
Preakness Plays:
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To win or place: Clever Again
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Exacta box: Goal Oriented, Journalism, Clever Again
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