by Cary Osborne
Clayton Kershaw will return to the Dodgers for year 18 and will be on the chase for threes.
Kershaw will chase his third World Series championship ring and 3,000 career strikeouts.
The three-time National League Cy Young Award winner has 2,968 strikeouts. Of the 19 current members of the 3,000-strikeouts club, only Curt Schilling is a three-time World Series champion. Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, Bert Blyleven, Roger Clemens, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander were part of two World Series champion teams.
Kershaw is 32 strikeouts away from becoming the fifth player to record 3,000 strikeouts with the same team. He would join Hall of Famers Walter Johnson (3,509 with the Washington Senators), Gibson (3,117 with the St. Louis Cardinals), John Smoltz (3,011 with the Atlanta Braves) and Carlton (3,031 with the Philadelphia Phillies).
Kershaw started seven games last season after joining the Dodgers on July 25. He had a 4.50 ERA and 1.50 WHIP in 30 innings after returning from offseason left shoulder surgery.
The 36-year-old (he turns 37 on March 19) is coming off left foot and knee surgeries, both performed on Nov. 7.
Kershaw is now part of a deep 2025 starting rotation pool that includes:
· Blake Snell
· Yoshinobu Yamamoto
· Tyler Glasnow
· Shohei Ohtani
· Roki Sasaki
· Tony Gonsolin
· Dustin May
· Bobby Miller
· Landon Knack
· Justin Wrobleski
· Ben Casparius
Ohtani’s return to pitching in big league games is later in the spring after Opening Day. Emmet Sheehan is targeting a May/June return for rehab starts after 2024 Tommy John surgery. Nick Frasso, who began last season as the Dodgers’ №2 prospect, missed all of 2024 after shoulder surgery. He is another starting option.
Kershaw, the 2014 NL MVP and 10-time All-Star, is the franchise’s all-time strikeouts leader. He ranks second in wins (212) behind Don Sutton (233). He is the Live-Ball Era (since 1920) career ERA (2.50) and WHIP (1.01) leader.
Kershaw’s 18 seasons tie Bill Russell and Hall of Famer Zack Wheat for the most in Dodger history.
In order to make room for Kershaw on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers transferred right-hander River Ryan to the 60-day injured list.
Clayton Kershaw comes back to the Dodgers for year 18 was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.