With many of their position players already in place, Team USA has been adding to their pitching staff recently and officially announced Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Clayton Kershaw will be on their roster for the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
Kershaw joins fellow Dodgers Will Smith and Mookie Betts on the Team USA roster, and he will reunite with his former teammate Trea Turner, who signed an 11-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies this offseason. Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel will also be on the Team USA coaching staff.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner has never participated in the tournament but said he was hopeful to partake for the first time next year.
“Obviously it would be a huge honor to get to do that,” Kershaw said. “We were all watching USA soccer and the World Cup, and how special that is to wear the jersey and how many people get behind that.”
3 Cy Youngs, an MVP, a World Series title.
Now, Clayton Kershaw is #ALLIN for the World Baseball Classic. pic.twitter.com/pAxhZTwNWX
— MLB (@MLB) December 19, 2022
Kershaw twice went on the injured list this past season because of back trouble, but he was still among the game’s best pitchers when healthy. The southpaw finished the year 12-3 with a 2.28 ERA, 2.57 FIP and 0.94 WHIP while striking out 27.8% of hitters and walking 4.7% over 22 starts.
The 34-year-old recently re-signed with the Dodgers on a one-year, $20 million contract for the 2023 season, which was said to include a $5 million signing bonus. He, and all the other Dodgers participating in the WBC, will be away from the club for a few weeks during Spring Training as they participate in the tournament.
Additional players on the Dodgers who have committed to participating for other countries include Julio Urías, who will pitch for Team Mexico, and Freddie Freeman competing with Team Canada.
Team USA, the reigning 2017 champions, will train and prepare for the 2023 WBC at Chase Field. They are led by first-year manager Mark DeRosa, and the rest of the coaching staff includes bench coach Jerry Manuel, pitching coach Andy Pettitte, hitting coach Ken Griffey Jr., first base coach Lou Collier, Ebel as the third base coach and bullpen coach Dave Righetti.
Team USA World Baseball Classic schedule
Team USA begins their title defense as part of Pool C at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, from March 11-15, facing Canada, Colombia, Mexico and a to-be-determined qualifying team. The Pool C winner and runner-up will advance to the quarterfinals in Miami, Florida, from March 17-18, and match-up against the winner and runner-up of Pool D.
Fox Sports previously announced an exclusive, multi-platform deal to broadcast all 2023 WBC games to fans in the United States. The global tournament begins on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, and will conclude with the championship game two weeks later.
Fox Sports will have exclusive coverage of all 47 tournament games across FOX, FS1, FS2, FOX Deportes, Tubi, and the FOX Sports app in the U.S.
Make sure to follow Dodger Blue on Instagram! It’s the best way to see exclusive coverage from games and events, get your questions answered, and more!
