MLB Notes: Dodgers sending ace Clayton Kershaw home for tests on sore back
Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw is returning to Los Angeles for tests on a sore back that’s been bothering him for a few weeks.
Manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday that he was still hopeful Kershaw could make his next scheduled start Friday night at Dodger Stadium against Colorado.
The three-time NL Cy Young winner is 11-2 with a 1.79 ERA this season. He lost his last start on Sunday in Pittsburgh, giving up four runs and nine hits in six innings.
Roberts said Kershaw has been dealing on and off with a problem in his lower back.
“He’s not any better, so what we’re going to do, we decided to fly him back,” Roberts said. “Try to get him on a flight tonight or tomorrow first thing in the morning. He’s not pitching here in Milwaukee, so as we looked at his Friday start, to give him a couple days back home makes sense.”
Kershaw has been on the disabled list only once in his nine-year career, in early 2014 with a shoulder strain.
“He’s going to consult with the docs when he gets back to LA and we’ll see where we go from there,” Roberts said before Tuesday night’s game at Miller Park.
Roberts said he did not know if any examination would include an MRI or CT scan.
“I think that it’s to get him in the doctors’ hands, then they’ll go from there,” Roberts said. “I think that they’re going to do whatever they can to figure out what the problem is.”
“It’s been a few weeks where it’s been in and out and he’s so good, it kind of started barking a little bit, so I think that right now we just want to kind of get some answers,” he said.
Roberts said it was not a hip problem, which Kershaw dealt with last season.
“It’s no hip. I know it’s the back, to the extent of that, I know it’s barking and I just want to see what we’ve got,” he said.
Kershaw did not specifically ask to return to Los Angeles, Roberts said.
“I think it was just more of the training staff and him conferring and having discussions and feeling this was the best thing for Clayton,” he said.
Former big leaguer Hickman dies
Jim Hickman, who played for four teams in 13 major league seasons and had a hand in one of the most famous plays in All-Star Game history, has died. He was 79.
Hickman died on Saturday at a Tennessee hospital after a lengthy illness, according to the Garner Funeral Home in Ripley.
Hickman, a Tennessee native, made his major league debut with the New York Mets in 1962 and hit .252 with 159 homers and 560 RBIs in 1,421 games. He also played for the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals.
Hickman had his best year in 1970 with the Cubs, when he finished with 32 homers and 115 RBIs. He hit a game-ending single in the 12th inning of the All-Star Game that year, sending Pete Rose barreling into catcher Ray Fosse for the winning run.
Clearing the bases
Padres CF Jon Jay is headed to the disabled list with a broken right forearm, according to a source. LF Alex Dickerson will be recalled from Triple-A El Paso. Jay has not played since June 19, when an 89 mph fastball from Nationals lefty Gio Gonzalez struck him on the forearm. … The Cardinals activated catcher Brayan Pena (left knee) from the disabled list and designated Eric Fryer for assignment. … The Nationals say an MRI confirmed their diagnosis that the righty Stephen Strasburg has an upper-back strain. Strasburg was placed on the disabled list Sunday retroactive to June 16. … Anibal Sanchez is heading back to the bullpen for the Tigers. Manager Brad Ausmus says the Tigers will use Sanchez in relief after he returned to the rotation for one start. … Twins right-hander Phil Hughes will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery.