*Photo from Yahoo Sports*
There will be at least one more go at it here. LHP Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to a one year contract with a player option for 2025, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The deal has been confirmed.
While 2024 will be Kershaw's 17th season in the majors, he'll have a delayed start to the season. He underwent shoulder surgery in November after the Dodgers were eliminated from the playoffs and won't be ready for game action until sometime in the summer. 2024 will be his age 36 season.
Last season was another strong year for Kershaw in the Dodger blue. He posted a 2.46 ERA, 4.03 FIP, and 1.063 WHIP, averaging 9.4 strikeouts per 9 innings and throwing 131 2/3 innings over 24 starts. In his one start in the playoffs, he was shelled for 6 runs while only recording one out.
Kershaw has amassed a reputation as one of the best pitchers in baseball history. He won the NL MVP in 2014 and has 10 All Star Game appearances, a World Series championship, and 3 NL Cy Young awards to his name. Among pitchers with at least 1,000 innings pitched, Kershaw's 157 ERA+ is second best in baseball history, trailing only Mariano Rivera.
A former first round pick of the Dodgers, Kershaw's run from 2011 to 2017 was one for the ages. Winning the NL MVP in 2014, he also made 7 straight All Star games and finished no lower than 5th place in voting for the NL Cy Young each year. The Dodgers have made the playoffs 11 straight seasons and have 10 NL West titles and 3 appearances in the World Series with Kershaw at the top of the rotation.
Despite injuries having slowed him recently, Kershaw has still been an effective pitcher. Since 2018, he has a 2.77 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 149 ERA+ (the league average is 100), and a 5.09 strikeout to walk ratio. He was selected to his 9th and 10th All Star games in 2022 and 2023.
Kershaw has spent all 16 seasons with the Dodgers since debuting with the team in 2008. He has a 2.48 ERA, 2.82 FIP, and 1.00 WHIP to his name, throwing 2,712 2/3 innings over 422 starts and 3 relief appearances, including 15 complete game shutouts. He also has a 4.49 ERA and 1.111 WHIP in 194 1/3 innings in the playoffs, making 32 starts and 7 relief appearances.
Whenever Kershaw rejoins the Dodgers rotation, he'll join a group that includes Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and James Paxton, all new additions. Bobby Miller and Emmet Sheehan are also in the mix with Walker Buehler set to join the rotation sometime after the season starts.
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