Left-hander Clayton Kershaw is going to retire as a player after the current campaign, per an announcement from the Dodgers. His final regular season start at Dodger Stadium will be on Friday.
“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,” said Mark Walter, owner and chairman of the Dodgers, in a club press release. “His is a truly legendary career, one that we know will lead to his induction in the Baseball Hall of Fame.”
In the next few weeks, Kershaw will be wrapping up a surefire Hall-of-Fame career. He will have spent the entirety of that span with one club, an increasingly rare phenomenon in today’s game. The Dodgers selected him with the seventh overall pick back in 2006 and he’s never been a part of any other franchise.
Kershaw was up in the majors by 2008 and he had a solid enough debut season. He tossed 107 2/3 innings for the Dodgers that year, allowing 4.26 earned runs per nine. He took a big step forward the following year, with a 2.79 ERA in 171 frames. There was another step forward in terms of workload in 2010, as he got up to 204 1/3 innings, with a 2.91 ERA.
From there, he kicked off the strongest stretch of his career and one of the best of any pitcher in the modern era. From 2011 to 2015, he tossed at least 227 innings in four of those five campaigns. The lone exception was 2014, where a shoulder strain limited him to 198 1/3 innings. For that five-year span, he tossed 1,128 innings with a 2.11 ERA, 28.6% strikeout rate, 5.6% walk rate and 47.4% ground ball rate. FanGraphs credited with 37.1 wins above replacement for that span, more than seven wins per season. That was easily the most in the majors for that stretch. Félix Hernández was second with 26.2 fWAR.
From there, injuries limited Kershaw’s production in terms of quantity, but the quality was still there. He never again hit 180 innings in a season, with back problems being a recurring theme, but still kept his ERA in the 2.00 to 3.00 range most of the time. Though it was a step down from his peak, he tossed 140-180 frames in each season from 2016 to 2019, never finishing with an ERA higher than 3.03. He made ten starts with a 2.16 ERA in the shortened 2020 season.
Kershaw’s run as one of the best pitchers alive, often the very best, coincided with a golden age for the franchise. It’s hard to believe now, as the Dodgers have been so consistently good lately, but they were spinning their wheels for a while in the earlier parts of this millenium. They didn’t make the playoff in the 1997 to 2003 seasons, mostly hovering around .500. Things improved a bit from there but still weren’t amazing. They made the playoffs in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2009, but then missed in three straight years from 2010 to 2012.
But they made the playoffs in 2013 and have continued to do so in every season since then. Assuming they eventually clinch a spot here in 2025, it will be 13 seasons in a row. There was a lot of playoff heartbreak in there but the Dodgers did win it all in 2020 and again in 2024.
More recently, Kershaw’s injury absences have become more pronounced as he has pushed into his late-30s. He was limited to 120-130 innings in the 2021 to 2023 campaigns, though still with good results on a rate basis. He only made seven starts last year, initially held back by offseason shoulder surgery before later having his season finished by dual surgeries on his toe and knee to repair a ruptured plantar plate and a torn meniscus.
He’s been able to get back to health here in 2025 and go out on a decent note. His strikeout rate is way down to 17% but he has managed to post a 3.53 ERA in 102 innings. As mentioned, he’ll be making another start tomorrow and could perhaps take the ball once more as the Dodgers finish the season with a six-game road trip.
Kershaw became a free agent a few times and occasionally seemed to flirt with the idea of signing with his hometown Rangers, but he always ended up back with the Dodgers. His first significant payday was back in 2014, when he and the Dodgers agreed to a seven-year, $215MM extension. That’s still the largest guarantee given to a pitcher on an extension. Only six free agent deals for pitchers (Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, Max Fried, David Price) have surpassed that guarantee.
That deal allowed Kershaw to opt out after 2018, which he did, but he and the Dodgers agreed to a new pact. A three-year, $91MM deal covering the 2019 to 2021 seasons kept him in Los Angeles and was the first time a pitcher hit the $30MM mark in terms of average annual value. His subsequent deals were more modest one- or two-year pacts as he seemed to go year-to-year with deciding whether or not he wanted to keep going.
Kershaw’s career numbers aren’t final yet because he still has at least one more game to go. As of today, he has 2,844 2/3 innings under this belt with a 2.54 ERA, 27.1% strikeout rate, 6.3% walk rate and 46.7% ground ball rate. He has tallied 222 wins and 96 losses, 25 complete games, 15 shutouts and 3,039 total punchouts. FanGraphs credits him with 78.7 WAR with Baseball Reference at 80.4. He also tossed 194 1/3 postseasons innings, though with a 4.49 ERA.
He made 11 All-Star teams and won three Cy Young awards. He was the National League Most Valuable Player in 2014, a rare feat for a pitcher. He also tossed a no-hitter that year. He won the World Series in 2020 and 2024, though he was on the injured list during the second of those titles. MLBTR salutes Kershaw on an excellent career and wishes him the best for his post-playing days.
Photos courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Neville E. Guard, Imagn Images
Seemed obvious after he got that “Legend Entry” into the ASG. He was fun to watch
And matt Adams just hit on their home run….
And oh! Is that Soto and rendon going back to back…
Congrats on a great career may you never choke on your food as hard as you did in big spots on the field.
Another sad sack heard from. 🙁
Ok fanboy
This comment is as unfortunate as an awkward chat regarding Wrexham.
Funny, for “choking” Kershaw still has two more rings than you.
el_chapo
Muted
If you don’t have any respect for Kersh then I don’t know why you watch baseball
This ragebait actually worked
I agree. Many fed his/her ego by giving attention. It’s too late for this post, but in the future, if legitimate posters would just ignore these types of posts, they would just go away…like a zit.
Clayton Kershaw has had an incredible career and is a first ballot hall of famer. Glad that I had the opportunity to see him pitch.
3 time WS champ Clayton Kershaw
Ok 2 times, ok one in 2020 short year
Congrats on a brilliant career from a true Hall of Famer on but even more off the field.
As a Padres fan, you were a menace to my Padres but as a human being you have always been an inspiration.
Putting others above yourself with your humanitarian endeavors.
You lived your faith. You have walked it out.
Couldn’t have been more impressed.
God bless your future endeavors.
To Dodgers fans, treat him right going out, but you always have.
Tip my cap to true great one!
Yuck. Finally. May his Sketchers Slip-Ons™️ never slip on.
Nah, bro. Even if you hate the Dodgers, you should respect that career.
There’s a point when fandom steps aside to admire greatness. That’s the case here.
He certainly is a once in a lifetime player, and I’m happy to acknowledge that. His personal beliefs and convictions? I would describe them as yucky personally but I’m not gonna suggest he wasn’t awesome in the field.
He builds schools in Africa, and has since he was a rookie. What’s yucky about that? I hope you’re a Nobel peace prize winner, saying anything bad about his convictions or beliefs.
Yes, I must be taking about that. Clearly, THAT is what I take issue with. Come on.
truebluela.com/2025/6/15/24449484/kershaws-cap-pri…
Oh, you have a problem with his faith. THAT is what you take issue with.
If his faith is to blame for the homophobia, then yeah sure.
Christianity is not hate speech. It’s speech you hate.
I definitely mocked and hated him with my extremely mild comments. You guys are the whiniest majority of all time.
I don’t recall using the phrase hate speech. Stop using religion as a shield against criticism.
Agreed. I do and I do.
Hey sourpuss, you must be great fun at parties.
BlueSkies: Maybe, maybe not, but you would know if you were invited.
And for that, I will be forever thankful. Thanks for mentioning it.
my king 💔💔
Mr Glazer we all know the real king is our one and only sunshine LeBron
Not hugely shocking as he gets to out on a high note. The only surprise is the announcement is coming before the end of the season.
I’d say to sell tickets but I think LA is sold out forever.
Not exactly, but the resale value of tickets for Friday’s game just went through the roof.
Respect not doing the full retirement party season as others have done with over-the-top ceremonies and gifts at every stadium.
rb305: What’s wrong with that? Does it somehow harm you?
I admire humility.
Guess he knew for a while and didn’t want some kind of farewell tour. Final homestand this weekend so it gives the fans who can’t attend the playoffs a chance to send him off.
Maybe, but for each of the last several years he’s been quiet about whether he’d go for another season, always taking the wait and see approach. I suppose once he made up his mind to call it a career he just wanted it out there.
Inspiration for a team that needs a kick to maintain 1st place!
A little extra motivation for the squad probably helps.
Its typical Kershaw not wanting too much of the limelight
Kershaw has a career ERA of about 2.50. He was the best pitcher of his generation.
He was a phenomenal regular season pitcher. The James Harden of the MLB! Still respect him though. Enjoy retirement!
S/b “MLB,” not “the MLB.” Sorry, but this is a dreadful illiteracy that must be commented on.
It’s like writing, “I like to play the tennis.”
Tennis is a sport. MLB is an entity. It’s horrible illiteracy to use that analogy.
Not if you’re writing a script for Inspector Clouseau.
nah totly exceptable
The analogy is entirely literate. The definite article is used to call out a specific instance of something.
Example: You’d say you once met a professional baseball player, if no player was specified (indefinite article). If you met a specific baseball player, you’d say you once met the player (definite article).
My point is that saying the MLB is not horribly illiterate, especially when using the acronym instead of the full name. It’s the only major sports league where the is not used in front of the name. It’s pretty harsh to call it horribly illiterate. Is MLB a specific entity?
Acronyms are tricky. Whether they are best paired with a definite or indefinite article depends on how they are being used in a sentence and what they say when spelled out. Many of them require no article at all. MLB is a specific entity, but not a specific example of one.
This place gets sexy after dark.
Heh-heh. Yeah. The stuff we get up to when nobody is around.
Back in the day, every time Bret Hart would say “the” WCW used to make me cringe.
At the SummerSlam
i do like to play the tennis though
Ha! This made me lol.
Oh man, I can make this conversation worse. MLB is actually not an acronym, it’s an initialism. Acronyms are the ones where you make it into a pronouncable word like NASA or FEMA.
Anyway, congrats to Kershaw. Amazing career. The dodgers have been lucky to have two of the greatest lefties of all time. I hope he goes out strong tonight.
Mule: EXCEPT when it’s TOTALLY ACCEPTABLE.
CardsFan57: “It’s the only major sports league where the is not used in front of the name.”
Not true. MLB is not actually a league. It is the entity overseeing THE AL and THE NL. Those are the actual leagues.
You did make it worse! Though, I did learn something. I’d never heard of an initialism. So, maybe better. Nah. Worse.
FWIW!
When I first joined this thread I said, “Don’t do it Mule. The joke’s not worth it and you’ve seen the pedantry. You’ve fed that voracious demon and felt its meagre providence. This thread could last three days.”
And instead of listening to myself I just smashed my hand down on that hot stove and smelled the burn. Then I figure, well at least the Kool-Aid Kid will get an upvote. Everybody loves that guy. Let’s double down. But apparently his publicist has been slipping.
So now I’m having a deep existential crisis instead of eating supper… eating the supper? I don’t know anymore. I don’t know if I want to know.
Post of the Year, Mule! Locked it up right there…
“The National Football League” “The National Basketball Association” “The National Football League” “The National Hockey League.”
Do you see it now?
Who says “The Major League Baseball”? Nobody..
Gwynning: Because MLB is not a league. People say the AL and the NL.
“That is not my dog.”
BB- I am most definitely not particularly keen to jump in on the definite article to specify a particular noun argument! Ha
Robby Manfred dü.
James Harden doesn’t have 2 rings.
James Harden forced his way out of superteams he is not comparable to Kershaw
I would compare him to Allen iverson or Tracy mcgrady
His longevity at a very high level puts him high in the conversation but also there are guys like deGrom for example in that conversation where some injuries derailed the totals but can’t erase the dominance.
Guys they were still pitching when he came up but were arguably as good but had overlapping “generations”.
Maybe even some young guys now pitching they will overlap.
First ballot HOF no doubt.
Kersh checks every HoF box, twice. A great player, and a great sportsman. It’s going to be sad to see him retire, but it’s been a huge privilege as a fan to watch him play the game at such a high level for so many years.
Blue to be fair, his postseason stats can be criticized –
In part because they are being compared to a pitcher that has been so great during regular season but even on their own – what, a .500 record with over 4.4 ERA for what someone on here has said is “the greatest pitcher of all time”.
Have fun with that. I will never get into goofy debates like who is “the greatest pitcher of all time.” It would be easier to answer the question of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.
I believe it is 7.
Longtimecoming, PS stats are small samples. Any great player can have so-so stats in the PS, and doesn’t diminish their greatness
Jean – actually, CK had more than a small sample size of PS stats because he was blessed to he on good teams. I don’t disagree that they are small in relation to regular season – 20 ish possible game as opposed to 162 so of course.
That said, his PS verses other SP PS is not a “small sample size” defense position because it is comparing say, Roger Clemens’ PS or Randy Johnson PS in comparison.
Obviously the greatest pitcher of all time is the Kool Aid Kid.
Oh yeah!
Longtimecoming, Clemens has better PS numbers, by only a 0.74 ERA. My point is there’s not a lot to be gleaned from that number over less than 200 IP. With Johnson, he pitched 73 fewer innings in the PS, where numbers could go either way with more innings.
Ryan Vogelsong, and Kenny Rogers have better PS numbers, so you’d prefer to have one of them take the ball over Kershaw in a PS game? PS stats are still small samples because the innings aren’t continuous. 194 IP may seem like a lot, but it’s just a bunch of small samples cobbled together.
Statistically, it makes no sense to value 194.1 PS IP spread out over 12 different years of PS pitching, over 2,844.2 career IP with a 2.54 ERA, as an indication of how good a pitcher is.
Well, statistics don’t lie as the old saying goes so, based on statistics as my guide, yes, I think k the chances of success are better with those SP in PS over CK.
They are what they are. Maybe for some reason he is tired by then or isn’t up to PS stress or whether but he has enough innings in PS to be judged as not that successful of a PS pitcher.
Doesn’t change his HOF 1st ballot status but they say what they say – he hasn’t been the same quality of SP in PS.
I’d bet CK would agree.
LTC
Statistics don’t lie
But people who don’t understand statistics (most people) can be lied to using statistics.
Vogelsong had games of 12.00, and 9.82 ERA in his last 2 PS appearances. Rogers’ first 4 appearances in the PS resulted in ERAs of 9,00, 12.00, 22.50, and 8.31. Far worse than Kershaw’s worse games. The fact that you’d give the ball to Vogelsong or Rogers over Kershaw says volumes about your baseball knowledge.
Clearly you also do not understand the statistical bias inherent in culling together a bunch of small samples over a significant period of time, thinking of them as a single set, and the misguided conclusions that can be derived.
Ok. You have changed my mind. Regardless of what the statistics say, CK was an amazing success in the PS.
People that use small sample size as a defense fail to realize that it is the ONLY source of data for the topic to use. It is more indicative of results than simply saying “small sample size”.
I agree. PS stats are the only source of data, but that doesn’t make them reliable in any way. And, the implication that small sample size is not a valid factor, but only used as a debate strategy, contradicts what we know about baseball statistics.
Citing PS stats to try and demean arguably the best pitcher of his generation, a pitcher with a 2.54 ERA over 18 seasons, an MVP award, 5 ERA titles, a triple crown, 3 CYs, not to mention 11 AS appearances, seems like a cheap shot. I’m no Dodger fan, far from it, but your opinion seems motivated by a dislike for either the guy or the team he plays for.
Now maybe go back and read my opening posts before you took us down this road – I specifically said in response to the greatest pitcher of all time comment, that his PS stats are not in line with that label.
At the same time I specifically said it didn’t minimize his career or his 1st ballot HOf status
Now you close by saying crap that I clearly never expressed.
Nice try at reframing your original post. It was full of mitigating factors and maybes that others were as good, and maybe others arguably as good, but overlapping his generation, etc. made your post very murky if the intent was acknowledgement of a great career. All that praise you now profess, was well disguised.
First post: “First ballot HOF no doubt”.
“Now profess” –
Can you not read?
Yeah cherry-pick that one line that was obvious to everyone to begin with. To summarize your post overall: he was great, but…
He’s going out a champ… On my fantasy team
fearthecub: “There’s nothing more interesting than your own team and nothing less interesting than someone else’s.” – Daniel Okrent, Father of Rotisserie baseball.
Happy retirement, you’ve earned it.
Congrats, Clayton. Great career.
But I won’t miss that curveball against my team lol.
Guy had a fairly productive career on the bat. 2018 he had a wRC+ of 82, which is pretty respectable for a pitcher at that time. One HR in 2013 against the Giants and it wasn’t a cheap HR either, going straight out to CF, 414 ft.
Enjoy your retirement.
Still remember the ESPN Magazine cover with him and Timmy Lincecum as the future of baseball. Love our 3 world series wins, but Kershaw obviously had the better individual career.
Now I can go back to hating LA without the “except for Kershaw” caveat.
They both play for the Los Angeles Dodgers, so yes
Happily hate usually has its greatest impact on those who hate.
Its a Giants Dodgers thing… you wouldn’t understand if you root for one of those teams without a real rival
I understand infantile hatred and displays from fans with inferiority complexes like “beat LA” chants. When that’s all you’ve got I guess you cling to running down the opposition. As to “real rivals,” I look to better teams than the Giants for that kind of juice.
Why are Dodgers fans like this lol
Classic little brother syndrome
Even Year BS really did a number on you huh
who’s the little bro, bro?
Yup the Fodgers chant of Mooookey is so much better and grown up.
I realize it must be difficult for someone with limited intellect to comprehend the difference between cheering for the players on one’s favorite team as opposed to screaming for your rival’s demise. Maybe get someone smarter to explain the difference to you.
Go hang off a cliff Sally.
Thank you for reinforcing my point.
You’re welcome.
Show up late, leave early and toss some beach balls around. Keep crying about a chant for eternity.
Nobody cares.
Get a competitive team and we’ll talk, dear.
Please don’t feed the trolls.
@bivouac – On an individual basis you are correct in the greater part. Unfortunately, when it become sanctioned hatred from those in power as we have today, the consequences also fall heavily upon the targets as well.
@Carver
That is above my pay grade.
And that answer is exactly how we lose a working democracy.
I’m sure you can save our democracy by working tirelessly here on the MLB Trade chat board. Thank you for your service.
We serve who only sit and type.
Not my type.
And Lincecum turned out to be a four-year flash in the pen. He turned back into a pumpkin and was done after 2011.
I still have that issue!
Except for Freddie Freeman, too.
Nobody hates Mookie or Freeman or Smith or Hernandez. You must be talking about another team.
First ballot HOF. Incredible career, so glad he got postseason redemption as well. Love Kersh. Congrats from this Blue Jays fan.
Absolutely, but with these voters, I predict he will receive 80-85% because of his postseason numbers, or some excuse like that.
Great career, one of the good guys of the game,
Happy Retirement Clayton. First ballot hall of famer. It is sure going to be a short farewell tour.
What a career
1st ballot unanimous HOFer
the best SP of the last 20 years alongside degrom, verlander, scherzer
Playoff Kershaw!
Top 10 all time pitcher, on the short list of best lefties ever as well. Not at all a fan of his personal beliefs or his need to essentially protest the pride night (in LA no less) but first ballot HOF no doubt.
Nobody cares what you think about his personal beliefs.
It’s no less relevant than any commenter’s thoughts on his on-field career and performance
Yeah we all love a good holier than thou attitude.
I don’t think I’m being holier than thou by disagreeing with his homophobic views. I’m just expressing my dislike for those views and how they shape my perceptions of him.
I don’t agree with anyone’s homophobic views but he is entitled to them, beknighted though they may be.
For sure, it’s just hard not to think of those views as I reflect on him in his totality, here at the end of his career.
Ok. well that’s just like, your opinion man.
I don’t care if you care lol. just sharing my thoughts on the subject in a public comment section like one does.
Obviously many people do.
Glad you added that caveat. We all assumed that since you said he was a top 10 pitcher that you endorsed everything about him personally too. Really helpful clarification.
It’s his retirement announcement, I’m thinking about his numbers as well as his legacy. Which is broader and not just a discussion of stats. I’m not saying to keep him out of the hall or something lol.
Always funny to see a comment like this. You are basically calling over 80 percent of African and middle east countries people “bigots” in addition,more than 50% of the Muslim and black communities here(which you would never say in public) We know damn well you think far right, libertarians, nationalists, and far left people are bad people.(Well, maybe you don’t think far left is bad of course) So, basically the only groups you think are good people are white liberals like you. Congrats
Would I call black or Muslim homophobes bigots? Yes. IDC what your background is, and there’s no excuse for that.
The only people I think are good people are the good ones, of any color. Bigoted beliefs make you a bad person actually, yes. And most of those views come from one side of the political spectrum soooo don’t blame me for noticing that.
Not sure how you decided I was racist because I don’t stand for homophobia but ok lol.
I’m not liberal either, they’re useless. Much farther left.
Those are also useless. All extremists are.
Lol ok sure, we need more fence riding status quo enjoyers. Enlightened centrism is a laugh.
I’m actually surprised because of how good he was pitching this season. I thought he would pitch until the wheels completely fell off.
People laughed when they said he would be the next Koufax. Only to become the greatest pitcher of all time.
Time to send him off with another ring.
Eeeeeeeasy now DDC.
Yooooo or whatever. Name them!
Randy Johnson or Clayton Kershaw? Best or better lefty?
I’d roster Unit over Kersh, Sweet Lou. Just my 2 cents!
Saw his ENTIRE career from the minors to now. One of the very best players and humans on the face of the earth. I knew this day was coming but still not easy to process it. He’s earned the right to leave the game on his terms.
Thank you Kersh! Go get yourselves another ring and see you in Cooperstown in a few years.
Hope he has a long healthy life in retirement. Great player
Now he can write anti-gay stuff on the internet instead of on his hat.
What anti-gay stuff did he say? Please provide quotes
Never said he said anything, read what I wrote a little slower, hoss.
Oh sorry, I didn’t realize you struggled with pedantry.
What anti-gay stuff did he express? Please be specific.
Let me know if you’re still struggling to make sense of that. I can use telegraphic speech if that’s more your level.
If you don’t know what he had written on his cap on Pride Night at Dodger Stadium and why it is considered anti-gay, refrain from commenting. It just makes you look bad like it did Kershaw. One of the few blemishes on and otherwise incredible career on and off the field for him.
Stating that someone struggles with anything while not having the mental capacity to understand what Kershaw was doing is a level of irony so vast that even Alanis Morissette wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Hell of a career.
“I don’t agree with that in the case of Kershaw. Players under contract to one team rarely talk about another. He lives 30 minutes from Globe Life Field in the offseason, seems like a big family guy, he’s tight with Chris Woodward, the Rangers have been in contact with him. The connection in this case is more than people just looking up where he’s from and speculating.”
Is this a pop quiz of some sort? Are we supposed to guess at who is being quoted?
Tim Dierkes said that funny enough
From the article: Post-Lockout Trade Candidates: Impact Players With A Chance To Move back in 2022
I congratulate you on your tracking of this comment for more than three years. I am relieved to know that I am far from the most obsessional poster here.
FWIW, I always put the Kershaw to Texas rumors solidly in the “no freaking way” category. Why they kept coming up, I never completely understood.
People have been linking players to their hometown team since before Kershaw was drafted.
Yep, lazy thinking is common. Tell me something else I already know.
Bush did Harambe.
Ahhh, but Harambe lives. Furthermore Susan, he’s in this thread… more than once even?
Whatever Reddit Gwynning
Still not me, never been on the Redds. All the best, H! Go Pads
Sure, Jan.
Heck of a career, class all the way. Enjoy it, 22. 🫡
Don’t want to be a fat man –Jethro Tull
A bittersweet moment for all baseball fans. What a terrific career. Congrats Mr. Kershaw.
road trip!!!! Me too.
Just looked at his lifetime stats.
Incredible for his outstanding consistency for outstanding pitching.
Easily a first ballot HOFer.Congratulations to him for an excellent career.
Giants fan since 1964. Kershaw is in fact a legend. Even to us. Not only has he been one of the best pitchers to ever play, he has always done everything with class. He’s been one of those guys who has great respect from all over MLB. I always hated him pitching against us but never really considered him someone to dislike because he was a Dodger player. Much respect to him and congratulations on a career well spent. Unfortunately he’ll make his last regular season Dodger Stadium start against the Giants but I also will have no problem rooting for him. I’ll also root for him in the playoffs.
respect….from a Dodger fan.
On BBreference, why does it say he has a 80.4 WAR on the top but it’s 77.6 on the totals below?
77.6 is the amount of WAR he has from pitching. 80.4 is the total he has from pitching+batting/baserunning+fielding.
Thanks! Didn’t think of that.
I probably watched 95 percent of Kershaw’s starts. Even in his last few years, you always felt like he would give you a good chance to win. Certainly a once in a generation type of pitcher…
I thought he was going to get 300 wins the way he was going up through 2018-19? Then the injuries and covid season stopped that possibility. I know wins are not the important stat. Still impressive when a starter can go deep enough in games to do that. Run support or not. Clayton was Steve Carlton compared to a lot of starters
No starting pitcher will get 300 wins again, the number of starts and decisions starting pitchers get is just too low. 16 wins has been enough to lead the American League twice in the last few years. Roy Halladay has many seasons with over 220 innings and only made it to 203 wins, and is deservedly HOF
Had a fantastic and long career, winning 3 CY An MVP , GG multiple AS appearances etc etc plus, on top of having all that fun he Made a bread truck full of cash. America, ain’t it grand.
And the last game of his (reg season) career is against SF giants. Shouldn’t have it any other way.
Good riddance! Guy always shrank in the biggest moments.
Yep, kinda like game 4 of the 2015 NLDS, or game 5 of the 2016 NLDS, or Games 1 and 7 of the 2017 World Series, or game 7 of the 2018 NLCS, or Games 1 and 5 of the 2020 World Series.
His ring says differently
There he is. Waiting to pounce, Neon? Sad little puppy.
Congratulations to Kershaw on his upcoming retirement.
Kershaw has not only had a great career, positively represented the game of baseball many contributions to charities & community events.
Kershaw is definitely a class act & 1st ballot HOF
Congrats on a great career to the 2nd best pitcher of his generation.
stathead.com/baseball/versus-finder.cgi?request=1&…
Who is first?
verlander
Nah, clearly Kershaw.
There is definitely an argument for Verlander.
82.1 WAR for Verlander to 80.5 for Kershaw.
3.58 Postseason ERA for Verlander to 4.49 for Kershaw
If I had just one game to be pitched, I think I would take Verlander. If I had one season at their peak I would take Kershaw. Although 2011 Verlander was an outstanding season and had a higher WAR than any of Kershaw’s. Still, I would take Kershaw.
Verlander has pitched two more seasons than Kershaw. Of the problems with using WAR to figure out who is “the best,” this is the main one. By this method you’d never pick Koufax because his career WAR was only 48.9.
For one game I would definitely take Koufax. Over just about anyone else. If I had to take one season at their peak I would take Koufax over either of these two.
If Kershaw pitched 2 more seasons at the same level of performance he has had in 2024 and 2025, he still wouldn’t surpass Verlander in WAR. That doesn’t mean Verlander has been a better pitcher than Kershaw, just that there is a viable argument that he has been especially when you take the post season into account.
5 years until Cooperstown.
Incredible career on the field and truly helps change lives off the field. A class act through and through.
Going to miss the last true starting pitcher of our generation. Not a Dodgers fan at all, but I always made time to watch him pitch. As a guy who grew up in the 80’s, CK always gave me that bit of a nostalgic feel.
Cards aren’t making the playoffs (obviously), so go get a 3rd ring CK, you deserve it.
Just out of curiosity, what year were you born? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.
No problem, 1976.
I was an undersized lefty who hit 83 on the gun at my top level, but got a chance to pitch professionally because being crafty and a lefty in the early 90’s still got you somewhere. Prime Jimmy Key, John Tudor were my guys, and another guy in their ilk who is tremendously better in Kershaw just hooked me in.
But Kershaw *only* has 25 Complete Games… Just messing with ya. We grew up around the same time and I watched a lot of Guidry.
Interesting! There were a lot of talented pitchers from the 80s. You probably remember the ’85 Cardinals and 1988 Orel Hershiser?
Guidry was pretty slick too.
Still got his consecutive scoreless innings streak card.
Orel was unbelievable that year.
@greg1: Are you a Tom Glavine fan too?
Watched all the aforementioned tossers; adding Bruce Hurst.
Who isn’t a Tom Glavine fan, Jeff?
Exactly YBC,
Just because I didn’t name Glavine doesn’t mean I didn’t like him. He was a heck of a pitcher too
Clayton and Sandy. Two classy Dodger left-handers who leave while still effective. Too bad more players don’t follow their lead.
Koufax had to “retire”due to extreme chronic pain from arthritic elbow. His decision was based upon a real fear of losing use of his arm and I wouldn’t wish that upon more players.
Other than his beliefs on gays, Kersh was an amazing pitcher and person. Good luck in retirement!
Postseason struggles aside Kershaw is one of the best pitchers of his generation and will certainly be enshrined in Cooperstown. Vintage Kershaw was masterful and probably could have pitched in any era and been just as dominant
Regular season champ unfortunately couldn’t cut it in the playoffs and that’s how people will remember him by. Out with the old garbage bring on the new kids who will more likely then not be better then Kershaw by a country mile
We can haul this comment straight to the dump.
are we allowed to use the word “shmuck” here?
Apparently.
Time to be a full-time dad….
I honestly believe one of the reasons he stuck with the game as long as he did was so his kids could see dad at work.
I never looked at it like that. My opinion was he was trying to get away from the wife and kids at home for some peace and quiet but I’ll go with your take on the matter. It’s more optimistic.
Silly rabbit.
The fact that he stayed with one team his whole storied career is amazing. His two peers, Verlander and Scherzer, were both much more mercenary, but all three will be heading to Cooperstown. As baseball fans we have been lucky to see three greats for so long. Happy trails Clayton.
One of those guys you admire no matter what team you root for.
Can’t wait for his final appearance. Leaving in the 3rd inning after giving up 5 to the Brewers in the NLCS
I can’t wait for you to be sent to your room without dinner.
As a Padre fan, can tip my cap to Kershaw on a no doubt HOF career. One of the greats
He does not want to pitch for the Orioles for (and this is in my best Dr Evil Voice) 1 million dollars???
My greatest all time Dodgers pitching rotation:
Sandy Koufax
Dazzy Vance
Burleigh Grimes
Clayton Kershaw
Don Drysdale
Not Matt Gage?
What no Darren Dreifort
No Orel?
The best I’ve ever seen. I feel very fortunate to have seen his entire career, and much of it with Vin Scully calling the games.
I’m going to miss Kershaw Day, but he’s a forever Dodger and will be inducted into the Hall in 2030. Should be unanimous but it doesn’t matter if some writer doesn’t think so.
He’s got an MVP, a triple crown, a no-hitter, three Cy Young awards, 3000 strikeouts 200 plus wins, less than 100 losses, two championships and over 300m in earnings. The Hall of Fame is his next stop, first ballot obviously.
I’m old enough to remember when it took 300 wins for a pitcher to get in the HOF. 3 Cy Youngs are impressive, but not even 250 dubs? Come on man
apt user name
Po
Kershaw has more wins than Pedro Martinez, Max Scherzer, John Smoltz and Curt Schilling.
You do realize they coddle pitchers now by Adding bullpen arms.
All class. He’s one of my all time favorites.
Great pitcher. The left handed Pedro. 1st ballot HOFer/should be unanimous.
And I know it doesn’t mean much, but it sure looks super tidy that he is finishing with less then 100 losses. I’m a bit old school that way.
Big party in Cooperstown in 2031 for his induction. One of the top 10 pitchers in my lifetime. Might be top 20 all time. A show shoe-in for 1st ballot HOF honors.
Goodbye.
Is there a Hall of very average posters? You wouldn’t quite make that.
If you’re going to troll, at least be creative and interesting.
C’mon man, you’re letting the Troll team down.
Giants’ fan here with nothing but respect for an indisputably great, HoF player.
Re: Kershaw’s playoff record: He no doubt had his struggles in the postseason, but he also had several legitimately great moments in October as well, that sadly get overshadowed by the blow ups.
Case in point: Kershaw has pitched out of the bullpen in four different winner-take-all postseason games. He was lights out in three of them: 5.2 IP, 7 Ks, 2 hits (both singles), no runs, no inherited runners scored.
Guess which is the only game people remember?
I think another thing that everyone who is critisizing his playoff problems is that without Kershaw the Dodgers probably don’t get to the playoffs.
He also has more postseason starts of 7 or more IP, 0-1 R allowed with 3 hits or less allowed than anyone in MLB history. He has 7 such starts, and I believe no one else has more than 5.
In 20 of his 32 postseason starts he’s allowed 0-3 runs.
0 R – 3 starts
1 R – 7 starts
2 R – 4 starts
3 R – 6 starts
That’s 62.5% of his postseason starts (20/32) being very good to lights out, with 43.8% being what we always expected from Clayton Kershaw (14/32).
His really bad starts were plagued by historically bad rates of inherited runners scoring (something like 3/4 of the runners scoring), and being left out to wear it in a deciding game.
And of course there’s the trash can game. He also had no business pitching in that Arizona series in 2023, but he tried to gut it out despite the injury he’d have surgery for soon after.
Congrats to Clayton Kershaw on one hell of a great career. Who would have imagined that when he was a high school pitcher throwing to his catcher Mathew Stafford that they would both be future Hall of Famers! Different sports of course but Coopertown & Canton ain’t a bad place to end up for 2 boys from Dallas!
You guys love to make up scenarios to get upset about.
classy way to retire… just a simple report from the team… good luck Clayton, it was fun watching you pitch
One of my greatest baseball memories was seeing him pitch live in his prime. What a treat.
Sir, this is a Wendy’s.
The sack about to get chaffed by all the well wishers.
Seeing he only has 222 wins has me shocked. I thought at least 250. I guess he’s missed more time than I thought. Had he stayed healthy 300 would have probably been close. Absolutely amazing stats when he’s been healthy
Yeah, he hasn’t reached 30 starts in a season in literally a decade. He battled injuries basically the whole second half of his career.
Before there was DeGrom, there was Kershaw.
I remember a lot of games he didn’t get the W because the Dodgers didn’t score enough despite Kershaw pitching extremely well. Happens a lot to aces, they often line up against other teams’ aces.
He’ll work in the front office like Buster Posey, right?
Probably not. Posey invested in Body Armor, made hundreds of millions when it was sold to Coca Cola, and bought a minority share or the Giants. Posey is on the Board of Directors and in the FO because he is a part owner of that team.
Dude is like Rick flair. How many retirements
Exactly one.
Literally just the one.
Just spitballing here but I am going with one.
Congrats on a great career, Kersh. You were almost unstoppable during your prime years. Good luck in retirement!
Where else have Africa, Jesus, Bret Hart, tennis, indefinite articles, homophobia, Skechers, choking on food, and baseball all been in the same conversation? I love the MLBTR and I love the tennis! I love the pickleball the mostest and I hope to run into Kershaw on the senior pro pickleball tour someday! Go, Cubs, go!
Never been a Dodgers fan, but a heck of a career. At a certain point, respect for what someone meant to the game trumps what team that person played for. Easy first ballot HoF’er.
Damn you Hanly for ruining that perfect game.
Who knows how it goes if Hanley didn’t botch that throw.
And thank you Miggy Ro for making that incredible play to preserve the no-no.
As it was, it was an incredible no-hitter. I think it’s the most ever Ks (15) with no walks, and somehow it was less than 110 pitches.
nice to see he bypassed the whole goodbye tour.
As a Padre fan I am glad to see him retire. He owned them for years. Allways took responsibility when things did not go well Great player.
Kershaw has been pretty to Joey’s roto teams over the years. He always fell a little too much due to his age.
.000001% dislikes he didn’t pick the Rangers ever as a free agent, but the rest appreciates someone who stayed with the same team the entire time and pitched as well as he did for so long. Time and/or injuries come for all us, but when healthy he still pitched well. Happy Trails Clayton.
Ugh. Now the networks are going to force viewers for one last kershaw ring over a better deserved team than say the Milwaukee brewers.
I don’t think he chocked vs St. Louis that one year. Manager left him in too long. Good luck Kershaw, such rarely to see one player with one team 200+ wins winner
Yes, because the networks choose who wins the world series.
Their secret is out.
You mean who they root for. One year the networks or advertisers spent a ton on ads featuring Alex rodgriuez. Yankees lost the wild card.
No, YOU meant who they root for.
He’ll be on DeRosa’s WBC team. Bank on it.
All the best, Champ. Kershaw will always be known as a class act. Enjoy retirement!
Kersh should change his name to Ali. Floats like a butterfly…
TIL
This was a great night for Kersh and Dodger fans. He got the curtain call he deserved.
Not the shower curtain call the likes of Scherzer have struggled thru either
Covid year and riding coat tails dont count as performing. Take him and his hateful self back to texas. Matt carpenter is still his dad
Next ballot HOFer fo sho