TL;DR
- * Clayton Kershaw's final Major League Baseball game is confirmed for Game 7 of the World Series.
- * Kershaw's career will conclude after the 2025 season, but his final game is potentially tonight.
- * Manager Dave Roberts is considering using Kershaw from the bullpen in this winner-take-all finale.
- * There are mixed emotions about Kershaw pitching, with a desire to avoid a poor final outing.
No matter what, this is it.
Clayton Kershaw's final Major League Baseball game is here. The Los Angeles Dodgers faced the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7 of the World Series Saturday night. Kershaw's run has concluded.
The renowned left-handed pitcher revealed near the end of the regular season that his career would conclude following the 2025 campaign.
This season has stretched to the absolute final day, prolonging Kershaw's career to its maximum extent.
However, it's far from clear if the Dodgers will deploy Kershaw.
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He'll definitely be in the bullpen, ready if L.A. Dave Roberts, the manager, is considering bringing him in. 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.
Additional World Series updates:
- Max Scherzer has a good Game 7 omen
- Why Davis Schneider Grew a Mustache for The Blue Jays
- Bo Bichette confesses he considered departing Toronto following the World Series.
- Ernie Clement ties a Blue Jays franchise record