Clayton Kershaw to retire after 2025 season: Dodgers ace calls it quits after 18 years in MLB

Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw will retire at the conclusion of the 2025 MLB season, the team announced on Thursday.

“I’m going to call it, I’m going to retire,” Kershaw said during a press conference Thursday afternoon, adding he knew this would likely be his final year coming into the season. “I’m at peace with it. I think it’s the right time.”

Kershaw will make the final regular-season start at Dodger Stadium of his career come Friday, when he takes the mound against the San Francisco Giants in a game that has postseason implications for both parties.

“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 his profound charitable endeavors,” owner Mark Walter said in a statement. “His is a truly legendary career, one that we know will lead to his induction in the Baseball Hall of Fame.”  

Drafted by the Dodgers as the No. 7 pick in 2006, the 37-year-old Kershaw will now apply the finishing touches to one of the most storied pitching careers in recent memory. Over the course of 18 seasons, he’s compiled a 2.54 ERA (154 ERA+) and a 4.29 strikeout-to-walk ratio. His contributions have been worth an estimated 77.6 Wins Above Replacement, according to the calculations housed at Baseball Reference.

Additionally, Kershaw is a former Most Valuable Player Award winner (2014), three-time Cy Young Award winner (2011, 2013, and 2014), 11-time All-Star honoree, and five-time ERA title winner. In 2011, he became the youngest pitcher win the National Cy Young since Dwight Gooden in 1985. Earlier this year, Kershaw became the 20th pitcher ever to record 3,000 or more career strikeouts. He ranks fourth all-time among left-handed pitchers in that category, behind Randy Johnson, Steve Carlton and CC Sabathia. Kershaw’s significance will stretch beyond those individual accomplishments. He was also a member of both the 2020 and 2024 Dodgers World Series championship teams, though he did not pitch after August last season.

Predictably, CBS Sports’ Hall of Fame expert Matt Snyder calls Kershaw “a lock” to be inducted into Cooperstown when he hits the ballot. Given that Kershaw will have spent his entire career with the Dodgers, there’s no doubting what team’s hat will be featured on his plaque. 

Kershaw may be wrapping up his regular-season career, but it’s worth noting that he could play a role in the Dodgers’ postseason run. They could clinch a berth as soon as Friday, with a chance to lock down their 12th division crown in the last 13 years over the coming days. The Dodgers have an excess of quality starters, so it’s possible that Kershaw would have to work out of the bullpen. Still, manager Dave Roberts has already said Kershaw will be on the roster.

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“I feel that there’s a place for him on our postseason roster,” Roberts told ESPN earlier this week. “I don’t know what role, but I think that the bottom line is, I trust him. And so, for me, the postseason is about players you trust.”

The Dodgers would, in that scenario, likely trot out a four-man rotation that included Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Shohei Ohtani in some order or another.