Column: Is Kershaw made like a Dodger? Decision on future looms for the injured pitcher

He lowered his head. He lowered his shoulders. He slows down his steps.

He kept baseball.

When Clayton Kershaw struggled out of the mound in the second inning on Friday with discomfort in his left forearm, it might have been just another painful chapter in the recent saga of a Hall of Fame Dodger in physical decline.

Or it could have been a goodbye.

It was like a bit of both after Kershaw was yanked off by the Milwaukee Brewers before the Dodgers made an emotional second comeback in three days to steal an 8-6 victory.

With two days left in the regular season, the Dodgers’ National League West Division title hopes are still barely, improbably alive.

Kershaw, however, could be done.

Not only made for the playoffs, but also made as Dodger.

Kershaw is a free agent after this season and has given no indication of his future, preferring to let his pitch do the talking, and on Friday he was supposed to roar. He was supposed to end his regular season here in glory, his 100th victory at Dodger Stadium, a reminder of the massive impact he had on the team for 13 years, forerunner of a second consecutive confirmation of greatness in October.

Instead, after being escorted from the mound by Roberts barely 30 minutes into the game as the stunned fans slowly stood up and cheered, Kershaw ended his season sitting alone on the canoe bench, hunched over, watching messy ground.

He missed more than two months this summer with a similar injury. He knew what it meant. He knew it wasn’t good.

If this was really his farewell to the Dodgers, it was as unfair as it was ugly.

“It’s a big blow, obviously,” Kershaw said quietly afterwards. “I just felt something in my elbow, my forearm. It’s kind of the same thing I had to deal with. I just got bad enough that I couldn’t go on tonight… I haven’t quite figured it out yet. “

One thing he understands is that he’ll likely miss the playoffs, and that clearly hurts more than his elbow.

“The most important thing was that I wanted to be a part of this team until October, this team is special, you saw what this team is capable of doing tonight,” he said. “I knew it and wanted to be a part of it. This is the hardest part for me right now, just knowing that the odds are, it isn’t looking good for October right now.

He approached his future as he did before. In other words, he did not cover everything.

“I’ve said it before, my future will work out on its own. I’m not really worried about it right now, ”he said. “I really wanted to be a part of the moment right now…

If he doesn’t go, then why did he keep baseball?

“I was just shocked,” he said. “Honestly, I didn’t know I was holding the ball. I probably should have given it to Doc.

Roberts, who had visited the mound with coach Neil Rampe after Kershaw allowed three runs on five scorching shots amid several grimaces, also looked numb.

“It was tough, it was his last home start, you just don’t know what the future is predicting so I wanted it to be special for him and his family,” said Roberts. “It didn’t end as we hoped.

Watching Kershaw work from early Friday, Roberts knew something was wrong. Everyone knew something was wrong.

Even though Kershaw survived the first inning after giving up an early blooping single to Kolten Wong, the Brewers were hitting the ball hard, and soon they were hitting it even harder.

In the second, Eduardo Escobar smashed a single to the left, and Luis Urias did the same, then Lorenzo Cain smashed a ball on the third goal line for an RBI double. Omar Narvaez scored another point with a down player, then Wong scored a brace in left field to score a third point.

According to ESPN Stats and Info, five of the 10 batters faced by Kershaw hit balls with an exit speed of at least 95 mph. This is the first time since Statcast started tracking in 2015 that half of the hitters faced by Kershaw have hit him hard.

By then, Roberts had seen enough. With two outs in a second, he trotted back to the mound with Rampe and, after a brief consultation, the crowd’s worst fears came true. Kershaw left the mound with Roberts, pitcher’s head hanging down as he was cradled by fans who apparently realized they could watch him in a Dodgers uniform for the last time.

“In this Wong AB, I saw some grimaces, and I don’t know if he wanted a strike call or if he was in pain,” said Roberts. “I saw him a few times and went there, and he felt something, he didn’t feel like he could go on… that doesn’t bode well… we’re not too optimistic about it. the moment.”

So what happens next?

Well, in about a month, Kershaw will probably have a choice.

Does he accept the “statue contract” that the Dodgers will surely offer him? It would be a one or two year contract to ensure he retires as Dodger, leading to the carving of a statue. The deal would be similar to the two-year deal the Lakers gave an injured Kobe Bryant at the end of his career to facilitate his farewell tour.

Or, with nothing more to prove in Los Angeles, is he returning to his beloved Dallas-area home to play with the Texas Rangers?

Or, if Friday’s arm injury is serious and requires surgery or a lengthy rehabilitation, is he simply retiring?

Some wonder if competitive Kershaw would be happy to stay with a Dodger team where he is now the fourth-best starter. Even if he wasn’t injured, he might not be a lock to be a playoff starter this season, nor would he be guaranteed to start his annual opening day next year. .

Kershaw, 33, is no longer the Dodgers ace, and who knows how much that means to him? He finally accomplished the one thing that had eluded him – a World Series championship – and who knows if that will be enough to get him to close his Dodgers chapter?

These questions wouldn’t be necessary if Kershaw had been willing or able to craft an expansion before now, but that didn’t happen, and Kershaw didn’t seem to want to insist on it.

Kershaw fans probably watched with impatience Friday’s news that the St. Louis Cardinals had reached a one-year extension deal with Adam Wainwright, their version of Kershaw and the planned starter in the wildcard game. next week, maybe against the Dodgers. The deal essentially makes Wainwright, 40, a life cardinal after spending 16 years there.

After the announcement, Wainwright said, “I don’t want to be anywhere else. Who am I kidding? “

Clayton Kershaw hasn’t said anything like that about the Dodgers yet. For now, his future here will remain as muddled as it was on Friday night when he lost his season but kept baseball.