MILWAUKEE — At age 34, Kevin Kiermaier is still a young man. But he’s a young man who feels very old at times and that’s why he decided this would be his last season.
“I tip my hat to the guys who can play until they’re 40,” he said. “But I think everyone has a different lifespan as a player and I think I’ve overplayed mine.”
A career spent playing on artificial turf in Tampa and Toronto might have shortened that lifespan. Kiermaier said he has issues with his hips and lower back that he knows are a result of all the games on hard turf. He decided before this season that he would retire following the 2024 season.
“Playing on turf my whole career has beat me up more than what I ever imagined,” the Dodgers outfielder said. “Just the stuff I feel day in, day out. It’s not easy getting ready for games any more. Just the effort to be a speed guy and have my arm keep up. Trying to be elite in these areas is very difficult for me and I need to be elite in those areas to be the player I am. Just what I’m able to do, I know I’m not putting the product on the field like I used to. I still show signs of it every now and then, but day in, day out I know what I feel.
“It’s time.”
Kiermaier said there are times when he has “felt guilty for what I put my body through” in order to play – cortisone shots and the like. Over the past few years, the realization has sunk in that he doesn’t want to do that anymore.
“Yeah, the thoughts and feelings I’ve had the last three years are thoughts and feelings I never thought I would have for how I approach every day at the field,” he said. “From a body standpoint, the first couple steps out of bed, a lot of times I couldn’t believe I was 31, 32, 33, 34 and I feel this way. I know what I signed up for and I’m so proud of what I’ve done in my career. I say I deserve an award because I don’t think anyone could play the game the way I have on turf for as long as I did. I’m telling you, you don’t realize it until you do it.
“But it’s such a privilege to play. All of us will do crazy things and put our body through a lot. But there have been so many times over the past few years where my enjoyment for the game – just certain days – is at an absolute minimum because I miss feeling fresh. It’s been so long since I’ve felt like that.”
There have been more days like that since the Dodgers acquired him from the Blue Jays at the trade deadline in exchange for left-hander Ryan Yarbrough. Playing for a team that could be competing for a championship has put “an extra pep in my step,” Kiermaier said.
“I’m at peace with whatever happens,” he said. “I want to go out on top and I’m with the perfect organization to have an opportunity to get to the playoffs and make a heckuva run and end it the way I envision.”
DAY OFF
Mookie Betts played the first three games of the series in Milwaukee after being activated from the injured list Monday, going 6 for 14 with two hits in each game. He got the day game off Thursday.
“It’s been awhile since he’s been playing every day,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Give him three days, get his legs under him, then after this one just let him play it out until the off day (next Thursday). So I think after we get through this stretch, I think he should be good to go.”
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BRASIER COMING
Veteran reliever Ryan Brasier retired four of the batters he faced in 1⅓ innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday. Brasier struck out two and walked one in what is likely to be his final rehab appearance with OKC.
Brasier didn’t allow a run over eight innings while striking out 12 in eight rehab appearances for OKC. The Dodgers plan to activate him from the injured list Saturday. Brasier has been out since April 27 with a calf injury.
UP NEXT
Dodgers (TBA) at Cardinals (RHP Miles Mikolas, 8-9, 5.30 ERA), 5:15 p.m. Friday, SportsNet LA, MLB Network, 570 AM
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