When Dodgers ace and two-time NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw made his second rehab start on Wednesday afternoon with the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts, he was convinced that it would be his final rehab assignment before returning to the Dodgers starting rotation – even if the Dodgers medical staff was not. But after striking out nine in five innings, Vice President of Medical Services Stan Conte didn’t even give the normal “We’ll see how he feels tomorrow” line, but instead simply declared “He’s ready.” Needless to say this is great news for the Dodgers and their fans.

Kershaw was absolutely brilliant in his final rehab start with the Chattanooga Lookouts on Wednesday, allowing only one run on six hits while walking three and striking out nine in his five innings of work. (Photo credit – Chris Piemons)

Kershaw will most likely be reactivated from the DL on Monday, May 5 when he is tentatively scheduled to make his first start for the Dodgers since March 22 in Sydney, Australia. But before this can happen, the Dodgers will once again be forced to make a corresponding roster move.

With Red Patterson being optioned back to Albuquerque after making his MLB debut in game-2 of Thursday’s doubleheader (having been brought up under the new 26-man doubleheader rule), and with the expectation that left-hander Paul Maholm will be moved from the starting rotation into the Dodgers bullpen to make room for Kershaw, someone has to go – and chances are pretty good that it will once again be left-hander Paco Rodriguez, who rejoined the team just this past Monday to bolster the Dodgers bullpen for their current 9-game road trip.

Rodriguez, as you may recall, was sent down to Triple-A on April 15 when struggling right-hander Brian Wilson came off the DL for what was called “shoulder tenderness.” And although Wilson was absolutely horrible upon his initial return and saw his ERA explode to 18.00, he has been much more Wilson-like in his last three outings in which he hasn’t allowed a run and given up only one hit while striking out four and walking none in his three innings of work. Although Wilson’s ERA is still a lofty 10.29, it is now at least headed in the right direction.

The 23-year-old Rodriguez was an absolute workhorse for the Dodgers in 2013 (until the final month of the season when he simply ran out of gas) and he has done a good job so far this season. Unfortunately, he was roughed up for three runs on three hits on Wednesday night in his first appearance since being recalled and struggled again in game-2 of Thursday night’s doubleheader raising his ERA from 3.18 to 6.43 in only 1.1 innings. That being said, Rodriguez is 0-0 on the season having appeared in 10 games thus far. He has allowed five earned runs on 10 hits, has walked three and has struck out eight. And while these numbers normally would not justify a one-way ticket back to Albuquerque, that fact that he stills has options does. In fact, it is the only reason to send him back down.

Until joining the Dodgers on the first day of spring training, Maholm has never been anything but a starter in his 10-year MLB career and moving to the bullpen full-time will be a major adjustment for the 31-year-old Greenwood, MS native. Maholm has a career record of 77-97 and a career ERA of 4.28. He is 1-2 with a 4.74 ERA since joining the Dodgers (including three relief appearances) with nine walks and nine strikeouts. In spite of these less-than-stellar numbers, Maholm will give the Dodgers a second lefty in the bullpen (along with J.P. Howell) if Paco is the one who goes when Kershaw returns.

Although left-hander Paul Maholm has struggled at times since joining the Dodgers, having him as a left-handed long reliever in the bullpen is a definite advantage. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

With Maholm in the bullpen, the Dodgers will have something that they have desperately needed for quite some time – a bona fide long reliever and potential spot starter, if needed. Up to this point the Dodgers have used right handers Jamey Wright, Chris Withrow and Brandon League as their so-called long relievers, but only Wright has gone longer than two innings thus far this season.

Although no one wants to see Paco sent back down to the minors, doing so as a trade-off to get Kershaw back into the starting rotation is a no-brainer.