When he finishes up this, his 18th season in the MLB, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw will be calling it quits. The team made the announcement on Thursday that one of the greatest players in their franchise’s history will be retiring at the end of 2025, ending an illustrious career full of regular-season achievement.
Is Clayton Kershaw One Of The Best Pitchers In MLB History?
But where does Kershaw stand when talking about the greatest pitchers to ever play the game?
His regular season stats are undeniable. He holds a career ERA of 2.54, lower than Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez, Cy Young, and Roger Clemens. He won the NL Cy Young Award three times, finished second in voting twice, and in third another time. He finished with the league’s best ERA on five different occasions.
Thank you, Clayton Kershaw đź‘Ź
The Dodgers star announced today he will retire at the conclusion of the 2025 season. pic.twitter.com/v0qrjj5OKW
— MLB (@MLB) September 18, 2025
Kershaw is an 11-time All-Star, and in 2014 became the first NL pitcher to win the league’s MVP award in 46 years.
He will be a first ballot Hall of Famer when he becomes eligible, without a doubt. But in looking at his career as a whole, there is a serious blemish that may keep him from being in the “greatest ever” conversation.
Postseason Struggles Put A Stain On Kershaw’s Legacy
Clayton Kershaw performed at his worst when it mattered the most.
Only six pitchers in MLB history have ever logged more postseason innings than Kershaw. All of the players ahead of him on the list have ERAs of under 3.82. Kershaw’s career postseason ERA is sitting at 4.49, easily the worst mark of any in the top-25 in innings pitched. In his first five World Series outings, he posted a combined ERA of 5.69, including a 7.36 mark in two appearances against the Boston Red Sox in 2018.
In his most recent playoff appearance, he allowed 6 hits and 6 earned runs, and retired just one batter. He finished with an ERA of 162.0. Kershaw did not take the mound a single time during the Dodgers’ championship run last season.
Will Los Angeles win back-to-back World Series rings and send Kershaw off into the sunset as a champion? They have been the title favorites essentially all season long, and remain atop the odds board as we head into the final stretch of the regular season.
But they aren’t exactly the juggernaut that most expended them to be. The Dodgers’ current record of 85-67 is only 2.5 better than the NL West-hopeful Padres, and five MLB teams have a better mark at this point in the season. They are currently 8 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the best record in the NL.
