Clayton Kershaw is bringing his stellar career to an end. The Los Angeles Dodgers announced Thursday that the starting pitcher will retire at the end of the 2025 season.

Kershaw, who has spent his entire career with the Dodgers, retires after 18 years in the league. He will make his final regular-season start at Dodger Stadium on Friday, per the team.

“On behalf of the Dodgers, I congratulate Clayton on a fabulous career and thank him for the many moments he gave to Dodger fans and baseball fans everywhere, as well as for all of his profound charitable endeavors. His is truly a legendary career, one that we know will lead to his induction in the Baseball Hall of Fame,” Dodgers owner Mark Walter said in a statement.

Dodgers teammate Freddie Freeman later told reporters that Kershaw informed him of his retirement plans about a month ago.

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Kershaw later explained his decision in a news conference at Dodger Stadium, tearing up as he talked about his teammates and his family:

When asked about his decision to retire, Kershaw said he and his wife Ellen went into 2025 thinking it would be his final season:

“We had talked about it basically all year, Ellen and I going back and forth. Usually we wait until the offseason to make a final call, but almost going into this season, we kinda knew this was going to be it.

“Didn’t want to say anything in case I changed my mind, but over the course of the season, how grateful I am to have been healthy and out on the mound, being able to pitch, I think it just made it obvious that this was a good sending-off point.”

The 37-year-old lefty has been well-decorated throughout his career, earning three Cy Young Awards (2011, 2013 and 2014) and 11 All-Star nods, including this season. He was the NL MVP in 2014 after an incredible season that included a no-hitter.

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Kershaw won a World Series championship with the Dodgers in 2020, pitching in Games 1 and 5 of the Series against the Tampa Bay Rays. In July of this year, he became one of 20 MLB pitchers ever to record 3,000 strikeouts.

Friday will be Kershaw’s 21st start this season, with the veteran having thrown 102 innings thus far in 2025. He has a 3.53 ERA with 71 strikeouts.

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Kershaw, who has been open about his desire to stay with L.A. for the entirety of his career, will retire as a Dodger, with just enough time for ceremony before the end of the season.

“I don’t think I put enough merit on it at times, what it means to be able to be in one organization for your entire career,” Kershaw said ahead of the season, via MLB.com. “You look at people throughout all of sports that have been able to do that, and it is special, it is. I don’t want to lose sight of that.”

The future Hall of Famer heads into Friday’s matchup with 3,039 career strikeouts across 2,844 2/3 innings, with a career ERA of 2.54.

Will Clayton Kershaw even start a playoff game?

While Kershaw is riding into the sunset, the question remains if he will do so as a member of the team’s postseason rotation.

Even at age 37, Kershaw has been an effective pitcher this season, but he also happens to pitch in the most overstocked rotation in baseball. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are all locks to make the postseason rotation if healthy. Shohei Ohtani should be too, with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts all but shutting down a speculated move to the bullpen.

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That’s already four starters, and the team also has Emmet Sheehan, a third-year player who has posted a better ERA, FIP and strikeout rate than Kershaw in fewer innings this season. Roberts acknowledged the uncertainty on Thursday, but insisted Kershaw would still be pitching for the Dodgers this postseason.

Kershaw obviously has a much more mixed legacy in the postseason, but it appears his team will give him one more chance to add a positive note.