Clayton Kershaw injury history: How long will Dodgers ace be out?

Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw was placed on the 15-day injured list, but could he be out even longer?

Kershaw has hit the injured list at some point in seven of the last eight seasons. At this point, it’s a significant enough trend to call the left-handed ace injury prone.

This time, Kershaw will head to the 15-day IL with SI joint inflammation. Per the Mayo Clinic, this is medical lingo for sacroiliitis, which can be described as “situated where your lower spine and pelvis connect. Sacroiliitis can cause pain in your buttocks or lower back, and can extend down one or both legs.”

Kershaw’s been great this year, with a 4-0 record, 1.80 ERA and 32 strikeouts over 30 innings. His command is the best in baseball, as he’s walked just two batters.

Clayton Kershaw injury history

Kershaw hasn’t faced too many arms issues, minus the elbow injury that forced him to miss last postseason. But among his many recent injuries are some back issues, such as a teres major strain in 2014, a herniated disc in 2016, lower back strains and discomfort in 2017 and 2018, as well as some back stiffness as the beginning of the shortened 2020 campaign.

So, yes, there is reason to be alarmed.

However, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic suggests that the feeling around the Dodgers is cautiously optimistic. LA believes he’ll be back relatively soon, with his IL stint retroactive to last Monday. He should be back by the end of May, assuming all goes right.

"“The early indications are that the Dodgers are hopeful it could be a minimum stint for Kershaw, though they’ll surely be cautious with how they bring him along. Both they and Kershaw have stated their clear goal is to have him healthy in October, and Kershaw admitted he pushed too quickly to come back from an elbow issue last summer that cost him a chance to pitch in the postseason,” Ardaya wrote."

Kershaw came back from an elbow injury too early last season, and it ended up costing him the postseason. The end goal for both he and the Dodgers is to pitch into October and beyond.

Best to be cautious.