Jansen is back, but Kershaw could be done

These days, it seems like the second you find out something positive about the Dodgers, it's immediately followed by something negative.

Case in point, today's news about Kenley Jansen.  After sitting out since August 28 because of more issues with an irregular heartbeat, he has been cleared to return tonight in Washington.  The Dodgers' pen has been very good lately (save for John Ely on Sunday in the 12th), so this will only make them stronger.  Lord knows the Dodgers play in enough close games, so any power arms late in games can only help.

Brandon League has been filling in quite nicely since Jansen went down.  He's gone 1-0 with two saves, and surrendered one run in 11 1/3 innings.  Ronald Belisario has also been great, going 3-0 with one save, and no runs over 12 innings.  Those are great numbers.  If Jansen is still at his best, those three form a fantastic trio at the end of games.

But like I said before, it's one step forward, and one step back.  We've learned over the last few days that Kershaw is quite possibly done for the season with lingering hip inflammation.  And to make matters worse, there's a distinct possibility that he will need surgery, which will KO him until next May.  Ouch.

Kershaw is scheduled to get a second opinion on Tuesday in New York, so we are all anxiously awaiting those results.  Not only do they impact the postseason race this season, but missing over a month into next season is big as well.  Who knows if he's been pitching hurt all season, as this seems to have occurred out of nowhere.  But, this is also the same guy who tried to pitch Opening Day sick as a dog (and did for a few innings), so he probably has been grinding it out much longer than we realized.

If Kershaw is out, then the top two in the rotation of Chad Billingsley and himself will be on the shelf, in addition to Ted Lilly, who's been out nearly the whole year.  For a team that's struggling so much already, that's a big blow.  That immediately elevates Josh Beckett and Chris Capuano as the new 1-2.  No disrespect to them, but that's not exactly the most intimidating duo on Earth.  It's a pretty scary thought, but one that we might have to accept pretty soon.