With Clayton Kershaw announcing his plan to retire at the end of the 2025 season, this year marks the final chance for the 18-year veteran to add another World Series ring with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
But with the Dodgers staring down the barrel of their postseason running beginning in a Wild Card Series, there will be some decisions that need to be made regarding the postseason pitching staff.
The team will need to construct its best possible 26-man roster to survive the first two rounds of the playoffs, which are best-of-three and best-of-five, respectively.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani have to be the top rotation candidates for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, which doesn’t leave room for Kershaw to contribute as a starting pitcher in the first two rounds at least.
But Roberts envisions a spot for Kershaw on the Dodgers’ postseason roster, even if a specific role isn’t yet clear.
“I just think for me, and ultimately, I don’t have the final say, it’s kind of a collection of conversations, but I just think that the person, the experience and whatever role that he’s willing to take on is a positive,” Roberts said.
“I don’t know what role, but I do agree, I still feel that there’s a role for him, a spot for him.”
Being an active contributor while the Dodgers chase another World Series motivated Kershaw to continue his career into 2025. Despite winning his second ring last year, Kershaw was left dissatisfied after missing the Dodgers’ entire postseason run due to injury.
Having a sense he was still capable of contributing and not wanting injuries to dictate the timing of retirement were additional reasons why Kershaw returned this year.
Clayton Kershaw explains retirement announcement
In years past, Kershaw has not decided on his future until the offseason. He broke from that tradition in revealing this year was going to be his last with the Dodgers.
One motivating factor behind it was wanting to give Dodgers fans a final opportunity to take in the moment. Kershaw also noted he wanted to avoid potentially becoming a distraction as the Dodgers look to repeat as World Series champions.
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