No matter what, this is it.
The last game of Clayton Kershaw's Major League Baseball career has arrived. The Los Angeles Dodgers take on the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7 of the World Series on Saturday night. It's the end of the line for Kershaw.
The legendary lefty announced late in the regular season that when the 2025 campaign was done, it would be it for his career.
And this season has gone to the very last possible day, extending Kershaw's career as long as possible.
But will the Dodgers use Kershaw? That seems much less certain.
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He'll surely be down in the bullpen, available if L.A. Manager Dave Roberts wants to call on him. But so will essentially every other Dodgers pitcher in a winner-take-all season finale.
Roberts used Kershaw once in relief in the NLDS, then not at all in the NLCS.
He only brought him in so far in this World Series in the marathon Game 3, as Kershaw got the testy final out of the top of the 12th inning as part of the 18-inning Dodgers victory.
At this point, it's clear Roberts trusts other pitchers more than Kershaw.
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There'd be mixed emotions about Kershaw being brought on at this point. No one wants to see him have a bad final outing.
He already got that clutch out on the last pitch he ever threw at Dodger Stadium. Maybe that should be it.
But there'd also be something mystical about Kershaw trotting in from the bullpen in Game 7 of the World Series for what everyone in the baseball world would know is his final outing. The Dodgers may not go there. But if they did, all eyes would be glued to No. 22 in blue on that pitcher's mound one final time.
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