Two-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, who has lobbied to come off the disabled list this week, will make one more rehab start before returning to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The left-hander voiced his displeasure at the move Sunday.
Kershaw, who was placed on the disabled list with inflammation in his back after his Opening Day start in Australia last month, will start Wednesday for Class AA Chattanooga.
“Not really,” Kershaw said Sunday when asked if he was satisfied with the Dodgers’ decision, according to ESPN.com. “I did the best I could, but I’m not going to fight the team if everybody doesn’t want me to do something. It’s what they want me to do.”
The Dodgers want him to push his pitch count to around 80 before Kershaw return to the majors.
Kershaw threw a bullpen Sunday before the team’s final game against the Colorado Rockies and said he feels normal.
“That’s the hard part,” Kershaw said. “You want to pitch in a game when you feel healthy.”
Manager Don Mattingly made his thinking clear while talking with reporters before Sunday’s game.
“In my mind, it really hasn’t changed,” Mattingly said. “The biggest thing we’ve talked about is pitch count — how do you get from 50-some pitches to 90?”
Kershaw threw 56 pitches Friday while pitching for Rancho Cucamonga, .
“His next start, we want to get him to the 75-to-80-pitch range,” Mattingly said.