After Los Angeles Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw announced his retirement at the end of the season, another layer has been added to his desire to win the World Series.
So far this postseason, Kershaw made just one appearance, a five-run (four earned) outing across two abysmal innings during Game 3 of the NLDS. Manager Dave Roberts spoke on if fans can expect to see Kershaw one last time as Games 3, 4, and 5 of the World Series are back at Dodger Stadium.
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“I would love to get him into one of these games if the situation is right,” Roberts said. “But first and foremost, I’m going to make decisions that I feel are best for helping the team win that particular game. If he’s a part of it, fantastic.”
Kershaw has rarely been pitching out of a bullpen role, but when the last month of the season showed that the Dodgers had four lights-out starters to work with in the postseason, the three-time Cy Young award winner made his transition to relief seamlessly.
The southpaw tossed just his fourth career regular season appearance out of the bullpen towards the end of the regular season, doing his part to help his team get the win in an 11-inning clash against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Three days later, he made the final start of his career.
For a future Hall of Famer to make his final start on short rest in order to help win a regular season game is a major part of why the Dodgers have been so lucky the last 18 seasons.
“He’s handled this last month with class, professionalism. All the while, he’s always said that he wants to do anything he can to help the team,” Roberts said. “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 kind of uncertainty of role going to the pen, he’s just fallen in line. So he’s adjusted his kind of workout regimen, throwing program, to be ready when called upon, like everyone else is.
“I think he’s been a big asset for the guys in the pen.”
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Photo Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
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One Response
Well, he pitched last night to one batter and got us out of that bases-loaded jam. Great job by The Legend!