Clayton Kershaw intends to pitch in 2025.
The three-time National League Cy Young Award winner revealed his plans during Fox’s pregame show for Game 2 of the NLCS on Monday. Kershaw had his 2024 season cut short due to bone spurs in his left toe. He hasn’t been available to pitch during the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ postseason run because of the injury.
As Kershaw explained, he didn’t want to go through having surgery to remove the bone spur and then not attempt to come back when his arm feels good. He has a $10 million player option for 2025.
“Obviously, I had some tough luck with my foot this year. But I want to make use of this surgery,” Kershaw said. “I don’t want to have surgery and shut it down. So I’m gonna come back next year and give it a go and see how it goes.”
Kershaw, 36, last pitched on Aug. 30, leaving a start versus the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second inning after giving up a home run to Corbin Carroll. At that point, he’d thrown 27 pitches and allowed three runs and three hits.
Following offseason shoulder surgery, Kershaw had a long recovery and rehab that kept him from pitching for the Dodgers until late July. He was limited to seven starts and 30 innings, compiling a 4.50 ERA with 24 strikeouts and 36 hits allowed.
Kershaw hoped to pitch in the postseason and kept throwing to stay ready. However, he admits that probably made the toe issue worse.
“Really, it’s not getting better, so I can’t pitch,” Kershaw told reporters before the NLDS, via USA Today. “I had to keep my arm going to have a chance and by doing that, I probably made this worse.”
Kershaw is 32 strikeouts away from throwing 3,000 for his career, which would make him the 20th pitcher in MLB history to reach that total.
In addition to his 2,968 strikeouts in 2,742 2/3 innings, the left-hander has a career 2.50 ERA and 212–94 record. He won the NL MVP along with the Cy Young Award in 2014, finishing 21–3 with a 1.77 ERA and 239 strikeouts in 198 innings.
