Recovering Kershaw to face hitters

Clayton Kershaw will face hitters Tuesday as he sets his sights on returning to the Dodgers in September.

The left-handed ace, who threw a 60-pitch bullpen session Friday at Dodger Stadium, is expected to square off against Dodgers minor leaguers in a simulated game either in Los Angeles or at the team’s complex in Arizona while the rest of the club is in Colorado for a threegame series.

“It wasn’t a very good bullpen (session),” Kershaw said. “But physically I feel fine.

“I’m excited (about moving forward). The next step is to face hitters, so I’m excited to do that for sure.”

The Dodgers have not released a timetable of when Kershaw might return to the majors and manager Dave Roberts has remained vague on the subject. Kershaw is intent on pitching again this season but has given no guarantees he will be back in time to finish the regular season.

After the simulated game, Kershaw is expected to pitch in a game setting before he comes back. Complicating that plan, though, is that the minor-league seasons in Class A, Double A and Triple A end Sept. 5.

The Dodgers have debated internally how many rehab outings Kershaw would require. Kershaw made his opinion clear.

“We talked about, potentially, two,” Roberts said. “But it became one. Obviously, he’s more the aggressor. That’s what makes him great.”

The three-time Cy Young Award winner last pitched in a major-league game June 26 at Pittsburgh. After that outing, a mild disk herniation emerged.

He pitched in a simulated game July 16, but a setback that day caused him to restart the recovery process.