Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander and Cy Young candidate Clayton Kershaw will not need surgery this offseason to repair an impingement in his right hip. The 24-year-old lefty has responded well to treatment and is expected to enjoy "a regular offseason", team trainer Sue Falone told the LA Times:
"You always have to remember to treat the person. The MRI gives us information. We don't treat off of it. He's feeling really good.
"All the muscles have calmed down. The inflammation's gone down. The injection worked. The therapy has worked. Things are going really well."
The news on Kershaw's hip has gotten progressively better since the initial doomsday diagnosis of a torn labrum in mid-September, a report that indicated the left-hander would need season-ending surgery and be sidelined until May of 2013.
Kershaw (14-9, 2.53) received a second opinion from a hip specialist in New York who gave the southpaw the much more favorable diagnosis of a hip impingement and put the southpaw on a throwing program.
Missing just one start, Kershaw returned to the mound on Sept. 23 and put together three solid outings -- giving up two runs in 21 innings -- to complete an already stellar season.