Browsing: Clayton

LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw, for the most part, is doing his best to avoid the sentimentality in all this. But he isnâ€t numb to it either. Lately, heâ€s been starting to notice the little things that heâ€s just now doing for the final time.

For instance: Last week, when Kershaw finished watching video of Blue Jays hitters, then finished poring over the numbers and had fully mapped out his gameplan … he exhaled. This thought popped into his mind:

“I just prepared for the Blue Jays,†Kershaw said at Thursdayâ€s World Series media day. “The last scouting report Iâ€ll ever have to do.â€

“No, that one feels good,†Kershaw said, breaking into a wry grin. “No more homework.â€

OK, so his final scouting report did not pull on Kershawâ€s heartstrings. But this might: Kershaw is set to begin what is essentially his final three-game series at Dodger Stadium. As it would happen, it comes in Games 3, 4 and 5 of the World Series.

On Monday, Kershaw will have his name announced to the Dodger Stadium crowd during introductions for the final time. Heâ€s on the World Series roster, but it remains unclear if a situation would arise where Kershaw would be called upon to pitch. A future Hall of Famer in the twilight of his career, Kershaw isnâ€t expected to handle any high-leverage work. If anything, he would pitch in mop-up duty.

Across his 18-year career, he has taken the Dodger Stadium mound precisely 250 times in the regular and postseason. The next time might be the last time.

“Iâ€m not good at the emotion thing,†Kershaw said at World Series media day. “Itâ€s special, I know that. I think once I announced that I wasnâ€t going to be playing last year, you just think about everything in terms of your last time. … Itâ€s just really cool that all thatâ€s happening in the World Series.â€

Kershawâ€s accolades are almost too numerous to count. Heâ€s an 11-time All-Star, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, owner of five ERA titles and the 2014 National League MVP. Earlier this season, Kershaw recorded his 3,000th strikeout. Now heâ€s eyeing his third World Series.

Kershaw, who debuted in 2008, is a link to a different era of Dodger baseball. In his first four full seasons in the big leagues, the Dodgers did not make the playoffs. In each of his next 13, they did.

“Every fifth, sixth day that we needed him, he just kept doing it over and over again — 18 years,†said Freddie Freeman, who was on hand for the last four of those years. “Heâ€s just a special player. There are one of ones — and weâ€ve got a couple of them on this team right now. But Clayton is definitely one of one.â€

Tyler Glasnow, who will get the start in Game 3 on Monday night, grew up a Dodgers fan in Santa Clarita.

“He was always one of my favorite players,†Glasnow said. “Just to be able to be his teammate, just even coming in, walking around Dodger Stadium, and now Iâ€m able to play with him — itâ€s just super surreal. I feel like itâ€ll probably kick in when itâ€s all said and done for me. But heâ€s just been an awesome teammate.â€

Really, thatâ€s where Kershawâ€s focus is right now. When he made the World Series roster, it meant his career wasnâ€t over yet. He could still impact the World Series, even if it wasnâ€t in his traditional role at the front of the rotation.

“He’s handled this last month with class, professionalism,†said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “All the while, he’s always said that he wants to do anything he can to help the team. He’s followed through on that. All the stuff — finishing out the season and how everything kind of played out — was a lot on his plate. He handled it with grace. And then the uncertainty of role, going to the â€pen — he’s just fallen in line. So he’s adjusted his workout regimen, throwing program, to be ready when called upon.â€

Roberts was also asked about his plans for using Kershaw and noted that his first priority would be winning the World Series. Obviously. But …

“I would love to get him into one of these games,†Roberts said. “If the situation is right.â€

For now, all Kershaw is doing is preparing himself for that situation. And in the process, heâ€s doing everything for the final time.

“Iâ€ve thought about it a lot,†Kershaw said. “Like, itâ€s maybe the last time to get loose, maybe the last time to do an armband, the last time to try to figure out how to get somebody out. All that stuff. Itâ€s a weird time. Itâ€s a lot of different emotions for me right now.

“But at the end of the day, itâ€s a lot of good emotions. Itâ€s gratefulness, contentment, at peace — all those things.â€

Sonja Chen contributed additional reporting to this story.

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Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw in 2025 World Series

\n\n”,”providerName”:”Twitter”,”providerUrl”:” in 2006, they were drafted just four picks apart — Kershaw out of his Dallas high school to the Dodgers at No. 7 overall, Scherzer out of the University of Missouri to the D-backs at No. 11.\n\nThen, they debuted within a month of each other in 2008 — Scherzer on April 29, 2008, and Kershaw on May 25. In 2013, by which point Scherzer had been traded to the Tigers, they were the AL and NL Cy Young winners. They both won the Cy Young three times. In fact, when Scherzer last won it with the Nationals in 2017, Kershaw finished second to him in the voting.\n\nNow, all these years later, Kershaw has completed his career with 223 wins, and Scherzer is right there behind him at 221.\n\nSomeone like Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior, a one-time top prospect whose career was famously marred by injuries, can particularly appreciate what Kershaw and Scherzer represent.\n\n“The durability, the presence that theyâ€ve carried, the expectation that when they step on the mound, everybody’s level of play will match the level of play that they’re bringing to the field and their intensity,†Prior said. “Their impact is something you can’t really quantify, but I think it’s just the body of work thatâ€s so impressive.—,”type”:”text”},{“__typename”:”Video”,”contentDate”:”2025-08-08T15:48:29.442Z”,”preferredPlaybackScenarioURL({\”preferredPlaybacks\”:\”mp4AvcPlayback\”})”:” DeRosa dissects the Hall of Fame careers of Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer, discusses both pitcher’s dominance and more”,”displayAsVideoGif”:false,”duration”:”00:06:39″,”slug”:”comparing-the-hof-careers-of-kershaw-and-scherzer”,”tags”:[{“__typename”:”TeamTag”,”slug”:”teamid-141″,”title”:”Toronto Blue Jays”,”team”:{“__ref”:”Team:141″},”type”:”team”},{“__typename”:”TeamTag”,”slug”:”teamid-119″,”title”:”Los Angeles Dodgers”,”team”:{“__ref”:”Team:119″},”type”:”team”},{“__typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-477132″,”title”:”Clayton Kershaw”,”person”:{“__ref”:”Person:477132″},”type”:”player”},{“__typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-453286″,”title”:”Max Scherzer”,”person”:{“__ref”:”Person:453286″},”type”:”player”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”vod”,”title”:”vod”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”mlb-network”,”title”:”MLB Network”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”mlbn-mlb-central”,”title”:”MLB Central”,”type”:”taxonomy”}],”thumbnail”:{“__typename”:”Thumbnail”,”templateUrl”:” the HoF careers of Kershaw and Scherzer”,”relativeSiteUrl”:”/video/comparing-the-hof-careers-of-kershaw-and-scherzer”},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”Their work is different these days. This was Scherzerâ€s second straight season with less than 100 innings, and Kershawâ€s start to the year was delayed by knee and toe surgeries.\n\nBut members of both World Series clubs rave about what these two pitchers have accomplished away from the field on the path to the pennant.\n\nFor the Blue Jays, Scherzer brought an intensity to a team that finished in last place in the AL East last year. He showed up talking about the World Series and what it would take to get there.\n\n“He is the epitome of a team player,†Walker said. “Heâ€s been gracious and awesome to the staff. Heâ€s in our coachâ€s office every day, he sits in with Schneid for a half an hour every day and heâ€s with our pitching department, talking with our guys and asking questions and always looking for some way to get better, whether itâ€s him or someone else on the staff. We had no idea what to expect from him coming in, but heâ€s been so awesome and genuinely happy here this year.â€\n\nKershaw has long held the role of elder statesman in the Dodgers†clubhouse. And evolving from the flamethrower he once was into the crafty vet with the 89-mph fastball in the present day has earned him wisdom.\n\n“What makes him special,†said Prior, “is that guys want to play with him.â€\n\nGuys like 26-year-old reliever Jack Dreyer, a fellow lefty who grew up idolizing Kershaw and attempting to replicate his mechanics.\n\n“In terms of like foot plants and arm angles and stuff like that, yeah,†said Dreyer, “I was 100 percent trying to mimic that.â€\n\nDreyer and the rest of the Dodgers know that mimicking Kershawâ€s presence come 2026 will be impossible.\n\n“Thereâ€s going to be a huge hole without him in the clubhouse,†Dreyer said. “It’s something that you can’t really replicate. So we’re just really thankful that we have such a good person and attitude in the clubhouse. I think one of the coolest things about this World Series is he gets the opportunity to go out on top. And then, across the way, theyâ€ve got Max Scherzer, and heâ€s still throwing 95 and yelling at his manager and all that. Those two guys are forever linked, two of the greats.—,”type”:”text”}],”relativeSiteUrl”:”/news/max-scherzer-clayton-kershaw-in-2025-world-series”,”contentType”:”news”,”subHeadline”:null,”summary”:”LOS ANGELES — One guy is peacefully departing, while the other is still raging against that good night and anyone left in his way.\nThat Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer both find themselves here, against each other, one more time — impacting this 2025 World Series either through their performance”,”tagline({\”formatString\”:\”none\”})”:null,”tags”:[{“__typename”:”InternalTag”,”slug”:”storytype-article”,”title”:”Article”,”type”:”article”},{“__typename”:”ContributorTag”,”slug”:”anthony-castrovince”,”title”:”Anthony Castrovince”,”type”:”contributor”},{“__typename”:”TeamTag”,”slug”:”teamid-119″,”type”:”team”,”title”:”Los Angeles Dodgers”,”team”:{“__ref”:”Team:119″}},{“__typename”:”TeamTag”,”slug”:”teamid-141″,”type”:”team”,”title”:”Toronto Blue 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MILWAUKEE — In what will be one of the final acts of his career, Clayton Kershaw is down for whatever.

At some point in a best-of-seven series against the Brewers, the likely future Hall of Famer is likely to pitch.

“His mindset all along has been, ‘I want to do whatever I can to help us win,â€â€ Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “And heâ€s embodied that. I would bet on him to be a part of helping us win this series.â€

Kershaw, who has announced his intention to retire after the season, is one of the most decorated pitchers in modern history, with three NL Cy Young Awards, an MVP, 11 All-Star selections and two World Series titles. But he has routinely scuffled in the postseason, with a 4.63 career ERA in those games, and at age 37 is no longer the physical force he once was. Although Kershaw produced a 3.36 ERA over 22 starts and a relief appearance during the regular season, his advanced metrics ranked among the worst of his career.

At a time of year when velocity really matters, Kershaw is also one of the softest throwers in the Majors. During the left-handerâ€s lone NLDS appearance, the Phillies hammered his pitches for five runs (four earned) over two innings in the Dodgers†only loss.

Still, Kershaw is Kershaw, and his inclusion on the NLCS roster is more than just symbolic. Roberts said he anticipated using Kershaw potentially as a multi-inning arm who can retire both right- and left-handed hitters.

In the NLDS, the Dodgers relied mostly on their starting pitchers, with Roki Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan and Alex Vesia handling the majority of relief innings. If Roberts†trust tree expands during a best-of-seven NLCS, however, Kershaw could find himself in more important situations.

“Heâ€s going to have a statue out in front of Dodger Stadium,†Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts said after Kershawâ€s NLDS outing. “Keep that in mind and understand that in the grand scheme of things, Kershaw is a first-ballot Hall of Famer — one of the best to ever do it.â€

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Clayton Kershaw’s first appearance this postseason turned into a disaster, as the future Hall of Famer allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits over two innings pitching out of the bullpen in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 8-2 loss to the Philadelphia Philles in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Kershaw summed up his outing in succinct fashion.

“Just didn’t make enough good pitches,” said Kershaw. “I was battling command. It’s hard when you’re trying to throw strikes as opposed to getting people out. Just wasn’t a fun thing.”

Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts admitted after the game it was “hard to watch” everything that happened to Kershaw in the decisive eighth inning:

“It was hard to watch. But we can’t use two innings to—he’s going to have a statue out in front of Dodger Stadium. Kind of keep that in mind and understand that, in the grand scheme of things, Kershaw is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, one of the best to ever do it. So if you let two innings kind of ruin that, you don’t know baseball.”

The Dodgers were trailing 3-1 when Kershaw came into the game to start the seventh inning. His first inning wasn’t exactly smooth with a single and walk allowed to the first two batters he faced, but he escaped it without giving up a run.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts rolled the dice by letting Kershaw, who last pitched on Sept. 28, go out for a second inning of work. Things fell apart right away with J.T. Realmuto leading off the eighth with a homer, followed by a walk, an error by third baseman Max Muncy, a sacrifice bun, RBI single from Trea Turner and a two-run homer by Kyle Schwarber.

After the next two hitters also got hits, Kershaw finally got out of the inning when Brandon Marsh flew out to deep center. The score was 8-1 by the time his night ended.

This was Kershaw’s second consecutive postseason appearance in which he didn’t record a strikeout. He allowed six runs and recorded just one out in a Game 1 start against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 NLDS.

Kershaw’s ERA pitching out of the bullpen in the postseason now sits at 6.75 with nine earned runs allowed in 12 innings over eight games dating back to 2008. Wednesday was his first relief appearance in the playoffs since Game 5 of the 2019 NLCS against the Washington Nationals.

Even though Kershaw was included on the Dodgers’ NLDS roster after not being included on the wild card roster, it wasn’t clear if he would appear in a game.

Roberts told reporters prior to Game 2 on Monday that there were “scenarios” to use the veteran left-hander, including late-inning or extra-inning situations, but he also said there are other pitchers on the roster “I feel we’re more comfortable with.”

It may have been unfair for Roberts to try squeezing a second inning out of Kershaw after he escaped his first frame without allowing a run. The results went about as bad as they possibly could have in the eighth, turning a still-competitive game into a blowout and giving the Phillies life in the series.

The Dodgers still have another home game on Thursday to try closing out the NLDS. They will send Tyler Glasnow to the mound against Cristopher Sánchez looking to secure their second consecutive trip to the National League Championship Series.

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Sep 28, 2025, 03:34 PM ET

SEATTLE — Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who will start Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Seattle Mariners, will be left off manager Dave Roberts’ roster for the NL Wild Card Series.

Prior to Sunday’s contest, Roberts said Kershaw will go “as long as he can” and not be shortened up as a way of managing his innings. On Wednesday, Kershaw made his first relief appearance of the season and tossed a scoreless inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

However, Kershaw returned to the rotation on Sunday to make the final regular-season start of his career. On Sept. 18, Kershaw said he will retire at the end of the season, having spent his entire 18-year career with the Dodgers.

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The 11-time All-Star and 2014 NL MVP is tied with Zack Wheat and Bill Russell for the most years with the Dodgers in franchise history. Kershaw won World Series championships in 2020 and 2024.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner entered Sunday’s game with a career 2.54 ERA, and with the fifth-highest Wins Above Replacement of any left-handed pitcher in Major League history. Kershaw trailed only Hall of Famers Lefty Grove, Warren Spahn, Eddie Plank and Steve Carlton before making his final Sunday’s start.

His 2.54 ERA is the lowest of any pitcher in the live ball era since 1920, and his winning percentage tops all pitchers with at least 200 victories since 1900.

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PHOENIX — The state of a struggling Dodgers bullpen was abundantly clear when manager Dave Roberts turned to not one, but two career starting pitchers in an effort to piece together a win on Wednesday night.

Roki Sasaki and Clayton Kershaw were two of seven relievers Roberts called on as the Dodgers eked out a 5-4 win over the D-backs in an 11-inning thriller at Chase Field. The victory lowered the Dodgers’ magic number to win the NL West to one.

They lead the Padres by 2 1/2 games — and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker — and can clinch the division with a win in Thursday’s series finale.

“Weâ€re trying to clinch this thing,” Roberts said. “Weâ€re trying to win baseball games. And then we can worry about the postseason.”

The Dodgers have an MLB-worst 13 blown saves since the All-Star break, including Wednesday, when the D-backs rallied for three runs off Alex Vesia and Edgardo Henriquez in the eighth inning. Jack Dreyer and Blake Treinen wriggled out of a jam in the 10th, and Justin Wrobleski slammed the door in the 11th after Tommy Edman put the Dodgers in front with an RBI single.

All of L.A.’s conventional options have faltered at times. So the team turned to an inexperienced rookie and a veteran starter — and could potentially lean on them in those roles in October.

After Blake Snell tossed six innings of one-run ball, Sasaki was the first arm up in relief. He tossed a scoreless frame in his first big league action since May 9, after which he missed four months due to impingement in his right shoulder.

The 23-year-old Sasaki had not pitched in relief as a professional before making two rehab appearances out of the ‘pen for Triple-A Oklahoma City. As had been the case in the Minors, Sasaki’s stuff ticked up on Wednesday night.

Six of the seven four-seamers he threw clocked in at 99 mph or higher, topping out at 99.8. In eight starts before he was injured, Sasaki had hit 99 mph just eight times — all in his big league debut in the season-opening Tokyo Series on March 19.

“The two biggest factors,” Sasaki said of his velocity, through interpreter Will Ireton, “is just knowing the fact that I’m healthy and that’s way past behind me. Mechanically, being able to finally find a place where I feel really confident with my mechanics.”

Sasaki’s first batter, James McCann, was the only D-back to put a ball in play against him. McCann hit a 98.1 mph grounder to third baseman Max Muncy, who made a long throw from the edge of the infield dirt for the out. Sasaki struck out his next two hitters, sending Tim Tawa down looking and Ildemaro Vargas down swinging. He induced three swing-and-misses, including two on his fastball.

It was perhaps as close to as-advertised as Sasaki had looked all year, albeit in a role the Dodgers had not expected to use him in when they signed the coveted right-hander out of Japan this past offseason.

“I just think thereâ€s a lot more confidence, a lot more conviction and obviously the stuff is up where it was earlier this year,” Roberts said. “Heâ€s learned a lot from this season, some of the struggles, not being able to participate, being in Triple-A, the rehab assignment and coming back. He just wants to help. Iâ€m really, really proud of his growth and what heâ€s done.”

Meanwhile, Kershaw was tasked with preserving a tie in the bottom of the ninth in his first regular-season relief appearance since Sept. 29, 2019 (he also came out of the ‘pen in Game 5 of the NL Division Series that year). Thanks to an inning-ending diving catch from Edman in center field, Kershaw also faced the minimum, sending the game to extras.

Kershaw had made himself available in the ‘pen the night before. After his emotional regular-season farewell to Dodger Stadium last Friday, he wasn’t due to start until Sunday in Seattle. Rather than throw his usual bullpen session, he figured, why not be an option to cover an inning in an important game for his team?

For Sasaki and Kershaw, the bullpen is the likely path to a spot on the Dodgers’ postseason roster. Both showed they could certainly be viable options.

“We have six amazing starters,” Kershaw said. “And so it’s just, yeah, I can do the math. So if I want to be a part of it in any way, I’ll do whatever they want.”

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As Dodgers players packed in for Clayton Kershawâ€s retirement news conference last Thursday, Freddie Freeman waved the Kershaw family to a row of seats at the front of the room.

He wanted Kershaw’s wife, Ellen, and their four kids in front of the pitcher right when he sat down at the dais at Dodger Stadium.

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How else, Freeman joked, could they get the future Hall of Famer to cry?

Turned out, in a 14-minute address announcing his retirement from baseball at the end of this season, Kershaw did get choked up from behind the mic. But, it happened first when he addressed his teammates. They, he told him, were who he was going to miss most.

“The hardest one is the teammates, so I’m not even going to look at you guys in the eye,†Kershaw said, his eyes quickly turning red. “Just you guys sitting in this room, you mean so much to me. We have so much fun. I’m going to miss it.â€

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“The game in and of itself, I’m going to miss a lot, but I’ll be OK without that,†he later added. “I think the hard part is the feeling after a win, celebrating with you guys. That’s pretty special.â€

Days later, that message continues to reverberate.

For the Dodgers, it served as a reminder and a reset.

Ever since early July, the team had lived in a world blanketed by frustration and wracked with repeated misery. Many players were hurt or uncharacteristically slumping. The team as a whole endured an extended sub-.500 skid. Behind inconsistent offense and unreliable bullpen pitching, a big division lead dwindled. Visions of 120-win grandeur were meekly dashed.

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Amid that slump, the clubâ€s focus drifted. From team production to individual mechanics. From collective urgency to internal dissatisfaction.

“Everyone on this team has been so busy this year trying to perfect their craft,†third baseman Max Muncy said, “that sometimes we forget about that moment of just hanging out and enjoying what weâ€re going through. “

Or, as Kershaw put it after his final regular-season Dodger Stadium start on Friday, “the collective effort to do something hard together.â€

“All that stuff is just so impactful, so meaningful,†Kershaw explained.

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And if it had gone missing during the depths of mostly difficult summer months, Kershawâ€s retirement has thrust it back to the forefront.

“I do think it helps reset,†Muncy said. “Over the course of seven, eight months, you see each other every day and sometimes you take that a little bit for granted … Itâ€s not something that anyone forgot. But sometimes you need a refresher. I think that was a good moment for it.â€

Donâ€t mistake this as a “Win one for Kersh!†attitude. The Dodgers insisted they needed no extra motivation to defend their title, even after whatâ€s been a turbulent repeat campaign.

But, both players and coaches have noted recently, their efforts this year have sometimes felt misplaced. The togetherness they lauded during last yearâ€s championship march hadnâ€t always been replicated. A pall was cast over much of the second half.

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“When youâ€re not winning games, itâ€s not fun,†veteran infielder Miguel Rojas said earlier this month. “But at the end of the day, we gotta put all that aside. … We have to come here and enjoy ourselves around the clubhouse, regardless of the situation.â€

The Dodgers did that and more this past weekend, when a celebration of Kershaw — which included nearly team-wide attendance at his Thursday news conference, several on-field ovations Friday, and Kershawâ€s address to Dodger Stadium on Sunday — was accompanied by three wins out of four against the San Francisco Giants.

“Watching him get choked up when he started talking about the teammates — it was just a crazy feeling in that room,†pitcher Tyler Glasnow recounted from Thursdayâ€s announcement.

Added Muncy: “You hear when he talks about the stuff heâ€s gonna miss the most, the stuff that he enjoys the most: Itâ€s being a part of the team. Itâ€s being with the guys. Itâ€s being in the clubhouse.

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“To hear a guy like him just reinforce that, I think itâ€s a good message for a lot of people to hear.â€

In Muncyâ€s estimation, the Dodgers have “seen a reflection of that out on the field†of late, having moved to the verge of a division title (their magic number entering play Monday was three with a 10-4 record over the last two weeks.

“Thereâ€s been more of an effort to try and enjoy the moments,†Muncy said. “Make sure weâ€re still getting our work in, but try to enjoy the moments.â€

The Dodgers made a similar transformation last October, when they used their first-round bye week to build the kind of cohesion they had lacked in previous postseason failures — one the team credited constantly in its eventual run to the World Series.

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Kershaw’s retirement mightâ€ve provided a similar spark, highlighting the significance of such intangible dynamics while lifting the gloom that had clouded the team’s last two months.

“There’s obviously been a lot of things to point [to this season], as far as adversities, which all teams go through,†Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But I think that as we’ve gotten to the other side of it … guys have stuck together and they’ve come out of it stronger, which a lot of the times, that’s what adversity does.â€

More adversity, of course, figures to lie ahead.

The Dodgers ended the weekend on a sour note, with Blake Treinen suffering the latest bullpen implosion in a 3-1 loss on Sunday. Theyâ€ll still enter the playoffs in a somewhat unsettled place, needing to navigate around a struggling relief corps and overcome a hand injury to catcher Will Smith.

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It means, like last year, their path through October is unlikely to be smooth.

That, after a second half full of frustrations, theyâ€ll have to lean on a culture Kershaw emphasized, and praised, repeatedly over the weekend.

“To have a group of guys in it together, and kind of understanding that and being together, being able to have a ton of fun all the time, is really important,†Kershaw said. “The older Iâ€ve gotten, the more important [Iâ€ve realized] it is. Like, you canâ€t just go through your day every day and go through the emotions. You just canâ€t. Itâ€s too hard, too long to do that.â€

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“You gotta have Miggy doing the mic on the bus. You gotta have Kiké. You gotta have all these guys that are able to keep us having fun and energized every single day. Thatâ€s what this group is, and itâ€s been a blast.â€

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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