Shockingly, Clayton Kershaw was scratched from his Game 2 start earlier today with back spasms. Tony Gonsolin will start in his place. However, the three-time Cy Young award winner was throwing in the bullpen today, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts believes Kershaw will be able to start in Game 4 or later in the series.
Dave Roberts sounds very optimistic about Clayton Kershaw. He won't start Game 3. Sounds more like the Dodgers are giving him extra rest for his back, which acted up on Saturday and isn't related to his early-season back injury. "This is a little bit of a spasm," Roberts said.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 13, 2020
Even if Kershaw can make a start in the coming days, this is still significant. It’s unlikely he will be 100%, and he probably will only be able to make one appearance in this series.
The good news for the Dodgers is they still have three live, young arms in Dustin May, Julio Urias, and Tony Gonsolin that can start along with Walker Buehler. Those are four guys most clubs would dream of having for a postseason series. Still, Kershaw has dominated the Braves in his career, especially in the postseason, and he has five times more playoff experience than all the pitchers mentioned above combined. It will also force Roberts to hold off on using Urias and May out of the bullpen for perhaps the remainder of the series, which is where they have primarily been utilized so far this postseason.
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Photo: Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire
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