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MLB Notebook: Clayton Kershaw hits the Injured List, Kyle Tucker reveals he’s been recovering from a shin fracture, and more
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Brett Holden
Sep 3, 2024, 19:00 EDTUpdated: Sep 3, 2024, 19:55 EDT
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Clayton Kershaw hits the Injured List

The Los Angeles Dodgers have another pitcher on the injured list as Clayton Kershaw hits the 15-day IL with a toe injury.
Kershaw left in the second inning of his start in Arizona over the weekend with pain in his left big toe and has revealed bone spurs as the cause. This is the second time Kershaw has been on the IL this season. He started the year on the shelf after recovering from surgery to repair the glenohumeral ligaments and capsule in his throwing shoulder.
Kersh joins an already crowded injured list; 10 pitchers currently sit on the IL for the Dodgers, including two of their massive signings from the offseason, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow, and youngsters Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, River Ryan, and Emmet Sheehan… and those are just the starting pitchers. Flame thrower Brusdar Graterol got through one batter before he found himself back on the IL with a hamstring issue, and Joe Kelly will be joining Kershaw with shoulder inflammation.
For now, the Dodgers rotation is being stabilized by trade deadline acquisition, Jack Flaherty, Walker Buehler, who recently came off the injured list, Bobby Miller, who is fresh off a minor-league development stint, and Gavin Stone, who is in the middle of his first full MLB season.
Somehow, despite the injuries, the Dodgers have been able to keep their head above water and maintain their lead in the NL West. While there have been some shakey points since the trade deadline, seeing their lead in the division dwindle down to 2.0 games on August 17th. Since then, the Dodgers have a 5.0 game lead in the NL West and became the first team in the MLB to win 80 games this season.
Now, the Dodgers success with all these injuries has not come from the pitching staff. Since the deadline, Dodgers pitchers sit in the bottom third of the MLB in strikeouts, blown saves, and K/9, and have the 16th-best ERA during that time. The most damning number, though, is the 2.1 WAR, the 18th-best since July 31st.
On the flip side, the Dodgers hitters sit fifth in average, third in slugging, and fourth in OPS while holding a 6.3 batting WAR – 6th in the MLB. The bats are holding L.A. above water at the moment.
Right-hander Ben Casparius has been called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City to cover for Kershaw. Casparius made his MLB debut the day after the injury, tossing a perfect inning, retiring Lourdes Gurriel, Pavin Smith, and Joc Pederson on only 12 pitches. Justin Wrobleski is also with the team, suffering the loss in the Sunday game against the D-backs.

Kyle Tucker reveals he’s been recovering from a shin fracture

The Houston Astros have been without their star outfielder, Kyle Tucker, since June 3rd, and he has recently revealed why. According to the team, Tucker has been dealing with a “deep bone bruise” to his shin, but Tucker exposed the true injury as a shin fracture.
“After a little bit of time and continued imaging and stuff, after the swelling and everything kind of calmed down, it was revealed there was a little fracture in the shin.”
Tucker fouled off a ball into his shin against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, battling the ball just above his protective ankle guard. He has missed over three months of action but he could be back in the lineup soon.
But, the issue with this all is the active denying from the Astros organization about the injury the entire time. The organization denied the shin was fractured as recently as this past Saturday. Astros GM Dana Brown was asked twice by the media if Tucker’s shin was fractured which Brown consistently denied.
It wasn’t until Monday in a statement to The Athletic that the Astros would finally acknowledge the injury as a fracture.
“After several rounds of medical imaging, we suspect there was some type of small fracture.”
The statement was sent to The Athletic before Tucker met with the media after Houston’s 5-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Monday. Almost like they wanted to control when the news of the inaccurate reports was released before the player did. If only there was a machine that could identify breaks and fractures to the bone…
The Astros currently sit 6.0 games ahead of the second-place Mariners and getting Tucker back in the lineup will be a very welcome addition heading down the stretch. Hopefully Houston isn’t lying about this too, though…

Kodai Senga eyeing a return to the bullpen for the Mets

New York Mets ace Kodai Senga is eyeing a return from the injured list, but not as a starter.
In a meeting with the press on Monday, Senga said through his interpreter Hiro Fujiwara that he would be willing to return to the team as a reliever.
“I think I can get off the IL with about five games left in the season… Whether they use me as a starter or in the bullpen, that’s up to them. I just want to be ready to throw as many innings as possible.”
Senga has only made one appearance this season after straining his calf leaving the mound to cover first base on a pop-up. This is his second IL stint of the year after recovering from a shoulder issue suffered during the spring.
The Mets bullpen has not been the most productive this season, sitting around the middle of the pack in ERA with 3.98 and WHIP with 1.29. But they do have an impressive strikeout-to-walk ratio at 553:221.
Meanwhile, the Mets starting rotation has been quite impressive, sitting in sixth in ERA with 3.72, seventh in strikeouts with 298, and ninth in WHIP with 1.23.
Currently sitting in a Wildcard spot, those final five games could be crucial for the Mets. If they could bring in a guy who finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year vote and seventh in the Cy Young vote, I think they would be quite happy to use him however they can. 

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