Kershaw CCXLII: The Kershawrtian
Carl Crawford, LF
Chase Utley, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Andre Ethier, RF
Corey Seager, SS
A.J. Ellis, C
Alex Guerrero, 3B
Joc Pederson, CF
Clayton Kershaw, P
By Jon Weisman
It’s the feel-good story of the year, literally.
In their final regular-season game before the National League Division Series begins, the Dodgers are about the healthiest they’ve been all year.
When Yasiel Puig returned to active duty Saturday, that meant the Dodgers didn’t have a position player on the disabled list for the first time since April 25.
Los Angeles’ disabled list is down to four pitchers, and that includes Bronson Arroyo, who was for this season at least simply ballast in the July deadline trade that brought Alex Wood, Luis Avilan, Jim Johnson and Jose Peraza from Atlanta.
Another disabled pitcher, Josh Ravin, was a big-league Dodger for nine games this year, leaving Hyun-Jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy as the only Dodgers on the DL who were expected to play a significant role.
It’s true that the medical charts for the position players aren’t entirely clean. Peraza, who was a playoff 25th man candidate before injuring a hamstring in early September, would have been on the DL in any other month. Puig is said to be under no restrictions, but his return Saturday hasn’t cleared up his availability for the NLDS. Scott Van Slyke’s inflamed right wrist makes him a question mark as well.
But other key players who have had recent injuries, such as Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, Kiké Hernandez, Howie Kendrick, Jimmy Rollins and Justin Turner, are all about as good shape as could be expected after the February-to-October grind,
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