Clayton Kershaw Announces He Will Retire After 2025 MLB Season

Clayton Kershaw, who has been with the Los Angeles Dodgers for many years as their ace, has revealed that he will retire at the conclusion of the 2025 season, thus ending one of the most overpowering pitching careers of the modern era. The left-handed pitcher who is 37 years old, known for his haunting curveball and remarkable consistency, will pitch his last regular season game on Friday against the San Francisco Giants at home.

The Story of a Dominant Career

Kershaw was drafted 7th overall by Los Angeles in 2006, debuted in the majors in 2008, and quickly became one of the best pitchers in baseball. He became the youngest player to win a National League Cy Young Award in 2011 after going 21-5 with 248 strikeouts and a 2.28 ERA. In 2013 and 2014, he earned two more Cy Young Awards and became the ace of a Dodgers rotation that would consistently dominate the regular season. From 2011 to 2014, Kershaw led the National League in ERA in all four seasons.

He also earned 11 All-Star selections, a Gold Glove in 2011, and joined the 3,000 strikeout club, becoming one of only four left-handed pitchers to do so. But, despite his success in regular season games, he became scrutinized for his performance in playoff games later in his career status.

Playoff Struggles and Success

With a playoff ERA of 4.49, Kershaw’s numbers and accolades are impressive and stand out even more against a much lower regular season average of 2.54. Kershaw struggled throughout the early portion of his career in playoff games, managing an ERA under 3.00 in just one of his first nine playoff starts during October. Kershaw endured issues in 2017 and 2018 during the Dodger’s World Series runs, collectively posting a 1-2 record while giving up 16 earned runs in his 26⅔ innings pitched.

Kershaw’s narrative changed for the better in 2020 after going 4-1 on the postseason run with a 2.93 ERA in five postseason starts that led finally to a championship for the Los Angeles franchise — a long, hard-fought career defining moment for Kershaw.

Injury and The Next Stage of His Career

Kershaw’s later seasons have exposed injury issues. He has started 30 games or more only six times from 2009 to 2015. He has not started 30 games since 2015. In each of the last five seasons leading up to 2024 — a season in which the Dodgers won another World Series without Kershaw being part of the active roster — he has not accomplished 25 starts.

Despite his physical limitations, Kershaw has been a productive starter. As of Thursday, Kershaw has went 10-2 with a 3.53 ERA in 20 starts during the 2025 season as the Dodgers are 85-67 and on top of the NL West division, and they are positioned again for a postseason run.

Mark Walter, the Dodgers owner, called Kershaw’s run “a truly legendary career,” complimenting Kershaw’s success on and off the field, and made a prediction that Kershaw will eventually reach the Baseball Hall of Fame.