{"id":628928,"date":"2026-03-17T22:46:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T22:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/628928\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T22:46:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T22:46:21","slug":"dodgers-great-clayton-kershaw-leaves-the-door-open-on-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/628928\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers Great Clayton Kershaw Leaves the Door Open on Return"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Los Angeles Dodgers great Clayton Kershaw hung up his spikes after the 2025 season \u2014 or did he?<\/p>\n<p>Kershaw suited up for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, although in a very limited capacity.<\/p>\n<p>So when he was <a href=\"https:\/\/dodgersnation.com\/former-dodger-to-be-replaced-on-american-wbc-roster\/2026\/03\/12\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">removed from the team\u2019s roster<\/a> after the quarterfinal round, was that the last time he suits up as a player?<\/p>\n<p>He seems to think so, but when speaking with Dodgers Nation\u2019s Doug McKain, he left some wiggle room.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is it, this is the last time i\u2019m putting on baseball pants unless something weird happens, but yeah,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Clayton Kershaw on if tonight is the last night that he&#8217;ll ever wear a baseball uniform:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is it, this is the last time i&#8217;m putting on baseball pants unless something weird happens, but yeah.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HW3a6Yfn1w\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/HW3a6Yfn1w<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Doug McKain (@DMAC_LA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DMAC_LA\/status\/2034029968288620991?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">March 17, 2026<\/a> What Kind of Legacy Has Clayton Kershaw Left?<\/p>\n<p>Kershaw is a surefire Hall of Famer, retiring with three World Series titles, three Cy Young Awards, a National League MVP and more than 3,000 career strikeouts.<\/p>\n<p>The lefty also threw a no-hitter and won the pitching triple crown in 2011. He led the National League in some combination of strikeouts, ERA and wins in multiple other seasons.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a historic career, and if Team USA defeats Team Venezuela Tuesday night, Kershaw will walk away with not one but two championships. That is, \u201cunless something weird happens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Clayton-Kershaw-Team-USA-2.jpg\" alt=\"United States pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22) throws against the Colorado Rockies in the third inning at Salt River Fields.\" class=\"wp-image-300712\"  \/>Mar 4, 2026; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; United States pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22) throws against the Colorado Rockies in the third inning at Salt River Fields. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn ImagesWill Team USA Win the WBC Tuesday night?<\/p>\n<p>The game should be a competitive one, with the Americans supplying plenty of star power.<\/p>\n<p>Kershaw\u2019s no longer on the active roster, but current Dodger Will Smith will be <a href=\"https:\/\/dodgersnation.com\/dodgers-world-series-hero-named-starter-for-wbc-final\/2026\/03\/17\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">starting behind the plate<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019ll be catching for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/usas-starting-pitcher-championship-game-042407224.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean<\/a>, who will start the game on the mound.<\/p>\n<p>Team Venezuela features stars like Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves and Eugenio Suarez of the Cincinnati Reds.<\/p>\n<p>On the mound will be 10-year MLB veteran Eduardo Rodriguez of the Arizona Diamondbacks, an interesting contrast to the rookie American pitcher McLean.<\/p>\n<p>As explained by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/news\/venezuela-pitching-plans-world-baseball-classic-final\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com<\/a>, Rodriguez is experienced at 32 years old, but that experience hasn\u2019t always translated to success, both in the MLB and in the WBC.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn large part because of a declining strikeout rate, E-Rod has an ERA over 5 since joining the Diamondbacks prior to 2024, and in this tournament he was roughed up by that deep Dominican Republic lineup for three runs with two homers in only 2 2\/3 innings,\u201d Castrovince wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Do you think Team Venezuela will beat Team USA on Tuesday night, or will the Americans bring home the WBC title?<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sab-icon\" src=\"https:\/\/dodgersnation.com\/path\/to\/app-icon.png\" alt=\"App icon\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\"\/><\/p>\n<p>LA Baseball Report<\/p>\n<p>Get the app for faster news<\/p>\n<p> <a id=\"sab-cta\" class=\"sab-cta\" href=\"#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">GET<\/a> \u00d7<br \/>  <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Los Angeles Dodgers great Clayton Kershaw hung up his spikes after the 2025 season \u2014 or did he?&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628929,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2406],"tags":[5,1147,39,1165,4332,4333,774,57,3224,4331,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-628928","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-dodgers","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-clayton-kershaw","10":"tag-dodgers","11":"tag-la","12":"tag-la-dodgers","13":"tag-ladodgers","14":"tag-los-angeles","15":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","16":"tag-losangeles","17":"tag-losangelesdodgers","18":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116246951227823683","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}