Clayton Kershaw Injury: Updates on Dodgers Star's Hip, Glute and Return

If there's one thing the Los Angeles Dodgers don't need, it's to see starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw battle any kind of injury. Unfortunately, the reigning National League Cy Young winner currently faces that predicament. 

Continue for updates.

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Greinke to Start For Kershaw Friday

Friday, July 31

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reported Kershaw will pitch Saturday rather than Friday with Zach Greinke taking his place Friday evening.

On July 29, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reported Kershaw would start Friday.

After a rocky start to the season, Kershaw has gotten stronger as the year has gone on, entering Wednesday with an ERA of 2.51 and a 0.94 WHIP. The Dodgers ace has been especially dominant in July, sporting a 0.27 ERA over four starts in which he went 3-0, tossing two complete games along the way.

If there is one silver lining for the Dodgers, it's that they have gone through a scenario without Kershaw recently. Last year, before he went on his ridiculous run to a third Cy Young and MVP award, the left-hander missed all of April due to back problems. 

The Dodgers were able to make it through the loss of their pitcher for a month in 2014, winning the National League West. An injury that significant in 2015 could lead to problems, as the division looks better on paper, with the San Diego Padres trading for virtually every right-handed power hitter. 

One thing that the new regime in Los Angeles did over the offseason was add better depth to the rotation. Brandon McCarthy and Brett Anderson, while injury prone themselves, have excellent potential. Joe Wieland is a quality back-end starter. In addition to that depth, Zack Greinke has put together his own Cy Young-worthy campaign to give the Dodgers two dominant pitchers at the top of the rotation.

Despite Grienke's impressive 2015, though, Kershaw is the best pitcher in baseball, and the gap doesn't seem particularly close. The Dodgers are exponentially better with him on the mound, going 23-4 in his 27 starts last year.