Clayton Kershaw is ready to come off the disabled list.
The two-time Cy Young winner struck out nine batters over five innings in a minor-league rehab start last night at Double-A and Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reports that he’s scheduled to return from a teres major muscle strain Monday against the Nationals.
Kershaw tossed 6.1 innings of one-run ball to beat the Diamondbacks in the season-opening game in Australia, but he’s been on the disabled list since March 29. He threw 86 pitches yesterday, so Kershaw should be more or less fully stretched out.
All the missed time will make winning a third Cy Young award very difficult, so Kershaw might have to settle for making a run at a fourth straight ERA title in the first year of his $215 million contract extension.
