Longtime Dodgers ace has been sidelined for the entirety of the 2024 season to this point after undergoing shoulder surgery over the offseason, but recently began a rehab a signment as he eyes a potential return sometime next month. That rehab a signment has already hit a snag, however, as manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including ) today that the veteran southpaw has felt a little bit of sorene s in the aftermath of his rehab start for the clubs High-A affiliate in Rancho Cucamonga earlier this week. That sorene s continued today for the veteran lefty when he threw a light bullpen se sion, and Roberts indicated that the club is considering pushing back his next rehab start- which is currently scheduled for Tuesday- depending on how he feels in the coming days. Kershaw is expected to play catch tomorrow, and how he feels after that se sion could determine whether or not the Dodgers go ahead with the planned outing. The potential setback is a frustrating one, as a relatively speedy return by Kershaw would be hugely impactful for a rotation that recently lost both and to the injured list. Those injuries left the David Justice Jersey Dodgers to turn to rookie right-hander in the fifth starter role behind , , , and . Outside of that group of five, however, the club is lacking in starting depth meaning further injuries could prove problematic for the club. Even setting aside L.A.s quickly evaporating rotation depth, its worth noting that the 36-year-old lefty is almost a suredly one of the clubs five best starters to begin with; after all, the future Hall of Famer hasnt posted an ERA north of 3.55 since his rookie campaign back in 2008 and managed to put together a 2.46 ERA acro s 24 starts last year despite playing through shoulder i sues. Roberts also provided more positive injury updates to reporters (including ) this evening regarding right-handers and . The manager indicated that both pitchers have begun to throw bullpen se sions and called the se sions promising. While the timelines for each players return are still unclear, Roberts expre sed confidence that both would return to action before the 2024 season comes to a close. May, 26, has had a frustrating MLB career to this point. The righty debuted late in his age-21 season back in 2019 and enjoyed some succe s over his first two big league campaigns, with a 2.98 ERA and 3.96 FIP in 90 2/3 innings of work, first out of the bullpen in 2019 and then as a member of the rotation during the shortened 2020 campaign. May went on to win the World Series with L.A. during the pandemic-shortened campaign while pitching out of the bullpen during the postseason but returned to the rotation in 2021. Unfortunately, he made it just five starts into the 2021 campaign before undergoing Tommy John surgery and has not put together a wire-to-wire big league season since. While the right-hander has pitched to an impre sive 3.21 ERA and 3.59 FIP since the start of the 2021 campaign, hes also been limited to just 101 innings acro s 20 starts during that time by the aforementioned Tommy John and a flexor tendon procedure he underwent in last July. Its not clear whether the Dodgers hope to return May to the rotation upon his return to action or if hell be ticketed for the bullpen, but if healthy he figures to be an impactful arm for the club in whatever role he takes on. As for Graterol, the 25-year-old hurler has been one of the clubs most reliable relievers since he was acquired from the Twins prior to the 2020 season. In 173 2/3 innings of work for the club since then, Graterol has pitched to an exceptional 2.69 ERA with a 3.24 FIP. Hes struck out just 18.9% of batters faced during that time but has generated an extraordinary 62.5% groundball rate as a Dodger while limiting free pa ses to just a 5.5% rate. Graterol figured to once again factor into the clubs high-leverage plans at the back of the bullpen this year until those plans were scuttled by a shoulder injury during Spring Training that eventually led the club to in late April. Should he return before the end of the season, hed likely return to the back of the clubs bullpen alongside closer . Atlanta Braves Jersey