Clayton Kershaw, while he may be retired from MLB, is making one last run during the upcoming World Baseball Classic. But Team USA apparently shouldn't rely on him striking out former Los Angeles Dodgers teammate Shohei Ohtani anytime soon.
Kershaw, who announced his retirement in September and finished his MLB career with the third World Series title of his career, committed to joining the Americans in the 2026 WBC. It is expected, considering his extensive injury history and the fact that he will turn 38 days after the tournament, that Kershaw will not play a major role for Team USA despite his inclusion. And he seems well aware of that, too.
When asked about a potential matchup between himself and Ohtani, the two-way Japanese superstar with whom he played the last two seasons, Kershaw made it clear his position on the matter.
“I think something will have gone terribly wrong if I have to pitch against Team Japan in the finals or something,” Kershaw said [h/t the Orange County Register's Bill Plunkett]. “I think we’ve got plenty of guys to get that guy out. Not me.”
It's likely a fair assessment of the situation. Kershaw, while one of the greatest pitchers of his generation, is far from his prime in the mid-2010s, when he routinely led the majors in ERA, WHIP, and WAR. Meanwhile, Ohtani is definitely in his prime; he has won three consecutive and four of the last five MVPs (two in each league), led the Dodgers to back-to-back World Series, and led MLB in home runs in 2023 and 2024.
Fortunately for Kershaw, a head-to-head with Ohtani is unlikely to happen. It very well could happen, though, for some of the other American pitchers who have joined the Team USA roster for WBC, including reigning Cy Young winners Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes.
The WBC is set to begin on March 5 with pool play in which four groups of five teams play in a round-robin format to determine the eight teams that will advance to the knockout stage. The semifinals and championship will be held from March 15 to 17 in Miami. Japan, which has won three of the five WBC events, beat Team USA in the final 3-2 back in 2023.
