Recently-retired Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw announced his intent to play in the 2026 World Baseball Classic on Thursday, and humorously responded to the prospect of pitching against reigning NL MVP and former teammate Shohei Ohtani during the tournament.
Kershaw and Ohtani played together on the Dodgers in 2024 and 2025 before the southpaw officially retired from MLB after L.A. won the World Series last season.
“I am not going to pitch to Shohei in any meaningful game,” Kershaw said to The Athletic. “I’ll tell you that right now. He would hit it so far off me right now.”
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Kershaw’s worry over pitching to Ohtani is warranted, as the two-way superstar has made easy work of some of the world’s best pitching over the past couple of years.
In 2025, Ohtani hit a career-high 55 home runs and recorded 102 RBIs. He slashed .282/.392/.622 last season, leading the National League in slugging percentage and OPS while leading MLB in runs scored. He earned his third consecutive MVP award last year, becoming just the second player in MLB history to do so.
However, Ohtani has gone 0-for-11 with four strikeouts against Kershaw throughout his career.
Kershaw shouldn’t be too shy to face Ohtani and Team Japan, as he also had a respectable season for the Dodgers during their World Series campaign in 2025.
In his age-37 season, Kershaw posted a 3.36 ERA through 23 appearances while striking out 84 batters in 112.2 innings pitched. He also has the pedigree to match up with any player on the planet, having won an MVP award and three Cy Young awards across his illustrious career.
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Team USA and Team Japan sit on opposite sides of the WBC bracket, with Team USA in Pool B and Team Japan in Pool A. The two teams will not meet until at least the semifinals of the tournament, when the remaining teams receive new seeds based on their records in the previous rounds.
With the two teams being the favorites heading into the tournament, it’s very possible Team USA and Team Japan meet at some point late in the tournament. While Kershaw seems adamant against pitching to Ohtani, Team USA still has plenty of pop weapons at their disposal as they chase down their second WBC title.
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