Barring the unforeseen, defending NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw will begin his rehabilitation from a strained teres major muscle this coming Friday with the Dodgers Advanced Single-A affiliate Rancho Cucamonga Quakes at LoanMart Field. And while this is absolutely great news for everybody involved, especially for the Dodgers and their fans, there is nobody, and I mean absolutely nobody happier than Quakes manager P.J. Forbes and his pitching coach (and former Dodger) Matt Herges.

How so, you ask?

Because the Quakes pitching staff, especially their bullpen, is an absolute mess right now. In fact, as of Monday night, the Quakes have lost their last eight games and are 5-14 (.263) on the young season – most of which coming at the hands of their struggling bullpen. As such, Kershaw’s planned rehab stint with the Quakes couldn’t come soon enough for Forbes and Herges.

Prior to Monday night’s Dodgers-Phillies game at Dodger Stadium, Kershaw threw what was most likely his last bullpen session before being sent out for what will probably be two or three rehab starts as Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, pitching coach Rick Honeycutt and a handful of Kershaw’s teammates looked on. During the session, Kershaw threw all of his pitches to (get this) Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis. This is absolutely incredible when you consider that Ellis is only 14 days removed from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.

According to Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis, Kershaw “looked normal” during his bullpen session on Tuesday afternoon. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Taking it one step further, Ellis is lobbying hard, very hard in fact, to catch his best friend’s rehab starts with the Quakes. If this happens, Ellis will most likely be DH’d for with Kershaw batting for himself – this not only because Kershaw needs to get game-ready on both sides of the ball but also because Ellis has yet to begin running since his surgery on April 8.

Even though the official announcement of Kershaw’s pending rehab start with the Quakes has yet to be made, Friday night’s game at LoanMart Field in Rancho Cucamonga is already sold out – not because of Kershaw but because of Brian Wilson. No, Wilson is not injured nor will he be pitching for the Quakes anytime soon, but Friday night is Brian Wilson Bobblehead Night and the game officially sold out on Tuesday afternoon even before Kershaw’s bullpen session.

(Image courtesy of RCQuakes.com)

If Kershaw’s first rehab start goes well, he will undoubtedly be put on a regular five-day rotation with an increasing pitch count each time out. If this is the case, his second start with the Quakes will occur on Wednesday, April 30 against the defending Cal League Champion (and Quakes’ biggest rivals) Inland Empire 66ers – the Angels Advanced Single-A affiliate team. With the Dodgers on the road, you can bet that there will be a lot of Dodger fans making the drive to San Manuel Stadium in San Bernardino to watch Kershaw pitch – much to the enjoyment of 66ers ownership.

Needless to say, if all goes as planned, Kershaw’s next two or three weeks will be full of surprises – for everyone.