Dodgers schedule Clayton Kershaw’s first rehab start for Friday

The next step in the return of Clayton Kershaw is at hand.

Kershaw will make his first rehab appearance on Friday for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga. He has been on the the disabled list since March 30 with a strained upper back muscle.

Kershaw, the reigning National League Cy Young winner, has made only one start this season, throwing the opener in Australia, before he went to the DL for the first time in his career.

Manager Don Mattingly said Kershaw would need more than just one rehab start before rejoining the rotation.

“We’ll just go one at a time,” Mattingly said. “More than one [rehab start], for sure.”

If Kershaw makes only two rehab appearances, he would likely be able to start for the Dodgers during their May 5-7 series at the Washington Nationals.

Mattingly said Kershaw, who threw 50 pitches in a simulated game Sunday, would throw around 55 in Rancho Cucamonga.

“We’re not jumping way up from the pitches he threw the other day,” Mattingly said. “It will be about the same, maybe a few more. Then we’ll see how he comes out of that.”