Kershaw: Didn’t feel like right time to retire
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Alden Gonzalez
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Clayton Kershaw admittedly wasn’t prepared for what foot surgery would entail. He spent four weeks on crutches and another four weeks in a walking boot. For more than a month, every step brought with it excruciating pain.
Being a normal dad to his four children was difficult. And yet Kershaw, who has contemplated retirement for years now, went through a painstaking rehab for the chance to pitch again this summer, even though his Los Angeles Dodgers had just secured another championship.
This time, retirement wasn’t even entertained.
“I hope this is the last time I have to rehab — I’m kind of done with that — but at the same time, I don’t want that to be the reason that I stop playing,” Kershaw said after Thursday’s workout.
“I don’t want to be, ‘I just can’t do it hurt,’ you know? Hopefully I can walk out on my own terms, whenever that is. But it just didn’t feel like it was the right time, even though we won. Being on the shelf for that wasn’t the way that I had scripted it out. Still super thankful to be a part of it last year and get to see everything, but I want to be out there when it happens.”
Kershaw, who will celebrate his 37th birthday on March 19, underwent shoulder surgery in November of 2023, made his way back into the Dodgers’ rotation in late July of the following summer, made seven starts, aggravated a long-standing toe injury and didn’t pitch again, sitting idly by in October.
Shortly after the Dodgers secured their second championship in five years — and their first in a full season since 1988 — Kershaw underwent surgery to address a bone spur and a ruptured plantar plate in his left foot, as well as a procedure to remedy a meniscus tear in his left knee.
Rehabbing the former proved to be far more difficult than rehabbing the latter. The Dodgers saved a roster spot for him nonetheless, waiting for Kershaw to gain more clarity on his timeline before finalizing a contract. His new deal — with a guarantee of $7.5 million and a host of incentives — was agreed to on Tuesday and became official on Thursday.
In recent years, Kershaw has toyed with the idea of finishing his career with his hometown Texas Rangers, who employ Chris Young, one of his best friends, as president of baseball operations.
That is no longer the case.
“I’m a Dodger,” Kershaw said. “I’m so thankful for this organization. I don’t think I put enough merit on it at times, at what it means to be able to be in one organization for your entire career. You look at people throughout all of sports that have been able to do that, and it is special. It is. I don’t want to lose sight of that. Getting to be here for my whole career, however long that is, is definitely a goal. Thankful that I get to continue this journey.”
Kershaw has been walking on his own for roughly six weeks and was able to begin running when he reported to Camelback Ranch earlier this week. Kershaw is currently only able to long-toss, but he anticipates throwing bullpen sessions at some point next month and alluded to making it back into the rotation at some point in late May or early June. At that point, he’ll slot somewhere within a loaded rotation featuring Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.
Whether this is his last year remains to be seen.
“It’s been year to year for a number of years now,” said Kershaw, whose last multiyear contract expired after the 2021 season. “We’ll just see how it goes at the end of this year.”
After finishing an eight-minute scrum with the media, Kershaw grabbed his rolling suitcase and went back to Highland Park, Texas, where he will continue his rehab. He anticipates being back and forth between the team and his home until getting into the late stages of his rehab, similar to how he navigated last year.
It wasn’t necessarily planned this way, but at this point, he appreciates it.
“From a family perspective, I’m very thankful that I get to go home a little bit at the beginning of the season and get to do the school stuff,” Kershaw said. “Cali’s in fourth grade, and it’s getting harder to leave; she’s actually learning stuff. So it is a little bit harder to leave home and stuff like that. But at the same time, it’s not by design. I’m not even going to think about next year, but, if I was healthy, it wouldn’t be that way.”
It’s 2025 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby day in Atlanta!
Some of the most dynamic home run hitters in baseball will be taking aim at the Truist Park stands on Monday (8 p.m. ET on ESPN) in one of the most anticipated events of the summer.
While the prospect of a back-to-back champion is out of the picture — 2024 winner Teoscar Hernandez is not a part of this year’s field — a number of exciting stars will be taking the field, including Atlanta’s own Matt Olson, who replaced Ronald Acuna Jr. just three days before the event. Will Olson make a run in front of his home crowd? Will Cal Raleigh show off the power that led to 38 home runs in the first half? Or will one of the younger participants take the title?
We have your one-stop shop for everything Derby related, from predictions to live updates once we get underway to analysis and takeaways at the night’s end.
MLB Home Run Derby field
Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners (38 home runs in 2025)
James Wood, Washington Nationals (24)
Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay Rays (23)
Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins (21)
Brent Rooker, Athletics (20)
Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves (17)
Jazz Chisholm Jr., New York Yankees (17)
Oneil Cruz, Pittsburgh Pirates (16)
Live updates
Who is going to win the Derby and who will be the runner-up?
Jeff Passan: Raleigh. His swing is perfect for the Derby: He leads MLB this season in both pull percentage and fly ball percentage, so it’s not as if he needs to recalibrate it to succeed. He has also become a prolific hitter from the right side this season — 16 home runs in 102 at-bats — and his ability to switch between right- and left-handed pitching offers a potential advantage. No switch-hitter (or catcher for that matter) has won a Home Run Derby. The Big Dumper is primed to be the first, beating Buxton in the finals.
Alden Gonzalez: Cruz. He might be wildly inconsistent at this point in his career, but he is perfect for the Derby — young enough to possess the stamina required for a taxing event that could become exhausting in the Atlanta heat; left-handed, in a ballpark where the ball carries out better to right field; and, most importantly, capable of hitting balls at incomprehensible velocities. Raleigh will put on a good show from both sides of the plate but will come in second.
Buster Olney: Olson. He is effectively pinch-hitting for Acuna, and because he received word in the past 72 hours of his participation, he hasn’t had the practice rounds that the other competitors have been going through. But he’s the only person in this group who has done the Derby before, which means he has experienced the accelerated pace, adrenaline and push of the crowd.
His pitcher, Eddie Perez, knows something about performing in a full stadium in Atlanta. And, as Olson acknowledged in a conversation Sunday, the park generally favors left-handed hitters because of the larger distances that right-handed hitters must cover in left field.
Jesse Rogers: Olson. Home-field advantage will mean something this year as hitting in 90-plus degree heat and humidity will be an extra challenge in Atlanta. Olson understands that and can pace himself accordingly. Plus, he was a late addition. He has got nothing to lose. He’ll outlast the young bucks in the field. And I’m not putting Raleigh any lower than second — his first half screams that he’ll be in the finals against Olson.
Jorge Castillo: Wood. His mammoth power isn’t disputed — he can jack baseballs to all fields. But the slight defect in his power package is that he doesn’t hit the ball in the air nearly as often as a typical slugger. Wood ranks 126th out of 155 qualified hitters across the majors in fly ball percentage. And he still has swatted 24 home runs this season. So, in an event where he’s going to do everything he can to lift baseballs, hitting fly balls won’t be an issue, and Wood is going to show off that gigantic power en route to a victory over Cruz in the finals.
Who will hit the longest home run of the night — and how far?
Passan: Cruz hits the ball harder than anyone in baseball history. He’s the choice here, at 493 feet.
Gonzalez: If you exclude the Coors Field version, there have been just six Statcast-era Derby home runs that have traveled 497-plus feet. They were compiled by two men: Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. James Wood — all 6-foot-7, 234 pounds of him — will become the third.
Olney: James Wood has the easy Stanton- and Judge-type power, and he will clear the Chophouse with the longest homer. Let’s say 497 feet.
Rogers: Hopefully he doesn’t injure himself doing it, but Buxton will break out his massive strength and crush a ball at least 505 feet. I don’t see him advancing far in the event, but for one swing, he’ll own the night.
Castillo: Cruz hits baseballs hard and far. He’ll crush a few bombs, and one will reach an even 500 feet.
Who is the one slugger fans will know much better after the Derby?
Passan: Buxton capped his first half with a cycle on Saturday, and he’ll carry that into the Derby, where he will remind the world why he was baseball’s No. 1 prospect in 2015. Buxton’s talent has never been in question, just his health. And with his body feeling right, he has the opportunity to put on a show fans won’t soon forget.
Olney: Caminero isn’t a big name and wasn’t a high-end prospect like Wood was earlier in his career. Just 3½ years ago, Caminero was dealt to the Rays by the Cleveland Guardians in a relatively minor November trade for pitcher Tobias Myers. But since then, he has refined his ability to cover inside pitches and is blossoming this year into a player with ridiculous power. He won’t win the Derby, but he’ll open some eyes.
What’s the one moment we’ll all be talking about long after this Derby ends?
Gonzalez: The incredible distances and velocities that will be reached, particularly by Wood, Cruz, Caminero, Raleigh and Buxton. The hot, humid weather at Truist Park will only aid the mind-blowing power that will be on display Monday night.
Rogers: The exhaustion on the hitter’s faces, swinging for home run after home run in the heat and humidity of Hot-lanta!
Castillo: Cruz’s 500-foot blast and a bunch of other lasers he hits in the first two rounds before running out of gas in the finals.
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