Clayton Kershaw will get PRP injection, expects to be ready for spring training in 2022

Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw will be a spectator this October, that much we already knew. But he told reporters in San Francisco on Friday that he plans to be ready to go at the start of the 2022 season.

That timetable fits with news from earlier in the week, when testing showed no ligament damage in his left elbow, which means no surgery is needed. Manager Dave Roberts on Tuesday called that “a huge sigh of relief.”

Kershaw on Friday told reporters he plans to get an injection of platelet-rich plasma in his left arm, and won’t throw for a while this offseason.

From Juan Toribio at MLB.com:

“That’s going to be my treatment and I’m just going to rest it, let it heal,” Kershaw said. “Not going to get surgery on it or anything and everybody I’ve talked to, all the doctors and everything, feel good that I’ll be good to go by spring training. So, that’s the plan.”

As for when he might throw again, Kershaw isn’t sure just yet.

From Bill Plunkett at the Orange County Register:

“I think it’s just kind of week to week. We have tons of time,” Kershaw said. “We’re going to be cautious this time. I’ve never given it the rest it’s needed, for whatever reason, trying to get back for the postseason. Really I just came back too soon the first time. So I’m going to be cautious this time. It’s going to be a while.”

Kershaw is a free agent at the end of the World Series, so where he pitches in 2022 is at least technically in question at the moment. As was the case many times throughout the season, including last Friday, Kershaw deflected questions of his pending free agency on Friday, per the reporters on the scene.