In 18 seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw put together a rather impressive career that likely will make him a first-ballot Hall of Famer, all while quickly becoming one of the greatest left-handed pitchers of his generation.
It’s a lengthy list of accomplishments that includes three National League Cy Young Awards, three World Series rings and 11 All-Star Game selections. He is also just one of 20 pitchers in Major League Baseball history to reach the 3,000 career strikeout mark, a feat he accomplished in July of last year.
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He now looks to add another accolade to his Hall of Fame plaque: World Baseball Classic champion with Team USA.
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“I’m so excited to be here and be with this group. … I Amazon’d all my gear. I’m ready, dude,” Kershaw jokingly said on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday, March 2. “I’ve been ready for a long time. I’m just so fired up to be on this team. And I told them, D-Ro (Mark DeRosa) and Andy Pettitte, our pitching guy, ‘Whatever you guys want. I’ll throw zero. I’ll throw every game. It doesn’t matter. I’m done after this. I’ll do whatever you want.'”
But if Kershaw is retired from The Show, why is he playing in the WBC for Team USA?
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Here’s what to know about Kershaw:
Is Clayton Kershaw retired?
Yes, Kershaw is recently retired. The WBC is going to be the final competition that Kershaw will pitch in.
He announced his intention to retire after 18 seasons in Dodger Blue on Thursday, Sept. 18 at a news conference inside Dodger Stadium.
“I’m at peace with it and I think it’s the right time,” Kershaw said. “It’s been a fun year and such a blast. I can’t think of a better season to go out, but we have a lot to accomplish.”
Much like how Peyton Manning went off into the sunset after winning Super Bowl 50 with the Denver Broncos, Kershaw had a Hollywood ending, as the Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in extra innings of Game 7 of the World Series.”It’s not a sad feeling. It really isn’t,” Kershaw said following Game 7 of the 2025 World Series. “I will, forever, for the rest of my life, get to say, we won Game 7 of the World Series the last game I played. You can’t script it, you can’t write it up.
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“Even if I was not throwing 88, I’d still be done. It’s just the perfect way to end it.”
Is Clayton Kershaw playing in WBC?
Yes, the former Dodgers left-hander is competing in the WBC. It’s the first time that Kershaw is playing for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, which is in its sixth iteration.
He is expected to come out of the bullpen for Team USA.
Why is Clayton Kershaw playing for Team USA in WBC?
In his appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on March 2, the three-time World Series champion called being in the WBC and wearing the Team USA jersey a “bucket list” thing for him as a ballplayer.
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“I’ve tried to be on this team a few different times and it hadn’t worked out for numerous reasons. But now that I finally get to do it and represent the USA and get to play baseball, it’s an amazing thing,” Kershaw said. “We were all watching the Winter Olympics and seeing the (men’s and women’s) hockey teams win and just to kind of see the nation support them and be behind them, it was amazing.
“To get to do that in a baseball uniform for Team USA is a bucket list thing for me. I’m so grateful to get to be on the team, and it’s going to be a blast.”
Having the veteran southpaw on the roster was an important one for Team USA manager Mark DeRosa. His presence is perhaps even more important for Team USA heading into Pool C play in Houston, as back-to-back AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal is expected to make just one start before returning to the Grapefruit League with the Detroit Tigers, and New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean is dealing with an illness that stopped him from reporting to Team USA’s camp in Arizona with everyone else.
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“He was important to me,” DeRosa said of Kershaw’s roster spot, according to MLB.com. “The way the tournament is set up, if a starter was to falter and not be able to give you length … you needed kind of a break-glass-in-[case-of]-emergency kind of pitcher. There’s no one on an active roster that’s willing to come and sit here and maybe not get to pitch. When we put our heads together, he was one of the best to ever do it, the guys would want to be around him, learn from him, and in case of emergency, he’d be out there and kind of reset us.”
Clayton Kershaw stats
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223-96 career record in 2,855 ⅓ innings with a career 2.53 ERA
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3-time World Series winner (2020, 2024, 2025)
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3-time NL Cy Young Winner (2011, 2013, 2014)
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is Clayton Kershaw retired? Ex-Dodgers ace playing in WBC for Team USA
