Kershaw tests shoulder, reports improvement

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw reported improvement in his balky shoulder after testing it in another game of catch Thursday.

“The fact that things are trending in the right direction is a good thing,” said Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations, who downplayed the urgency of a quick recovery with a month left in Spring Training. Friedman also reiterated that the club does not feel an MRI is needed for a shoulder that had a clean MRI in November, when Kershaw signed a three-year, $93 million contract.

“He’s doing better now than a week ago, and that’s a good thing,” said Friedman. “We’re early enough in Spring Training that we have a little bit of time. Today went pretty well. I’m sure he’ll pick up a ball and do it again tomorrow. The challenging part is taking the time and having the patience to kind of go through it. He’s in a good frame of mind right now.”

Kershaw reported “not feeling great” after playing catch Monday. That came five days after complaining about discomfort throwing live batting practice, which was two days after feeling something in his shoulder while throwing a bullpen session. Kershaw reported no issues after his first two bullpen sessions of camp.

Kershaw made 25 throws to conditioning coach Brandon McDaniel in a five-minute session on Thursday, appearing to throw more firmly than he did Monday. Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt watched.

Friedman said “there’s just not a lot of clarity” in Kershaw’s prognosis, yet he insisted an MRI is not needed at this time.

“Sometimes it just takes playing it out,” he said. “He’s itching to get out there and pitch and I know how much he did this winter to do it. But right now we have time on our side and we should use it and continued to have dialogue and figure it out.”

Kershaw took only four days off to allow treatment and medication to kick in before testing the shoulder Monday. Maybe the club hoped he waited longer.

“Kersh is not the most patient person in the world. He wants to go out and compete, and we certainly get it,” said Friedman. “There’s not a perfect roadmap. His mentality is something that has put him in position to be the best pitcher of our generation, so that really works for him in a lot of respects. I think things that require patience is not necessarily a strong suit.”

Kershaw has already been named the Opening Day starter for the ninth consecutive season. He heads a starting rotation that appears to be lined up with Walker Buehler, Rich Hill, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Kenta Maeda behind Kershaw. The Dodgers, however, also have the depth to replace Kershaw with Julio Urias, Ross Stripling and Brock Stewart also being used as starting pitchers this spring.