'I'll Be Nervous': Kershaw on Potentially Facing Ohtani at World Baseball Classic

Updated Jan. 15, 2026 3:30 p.m. ET

Clayton Kershaw isn't done pitching just yet, agreeing Thursday to join Team USA for this year's World Baseball Classic.

Just don't ask him to pitch against his former Dodgers teammate and Japanese two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani.

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"I think something would have gone terribly wrong if I had to pitch against Team Japan in the finals or something," Kershaw joked when discussing his decision on MLB Network. 

"I think we have plenty of guys to get that guy out, but not me. If that happens, I'll be nervous."

A left-hander who turns 38 two days after the March 17 championship game, Kershaw announced last September that he was retiring at the end of the season, his 18th in a stellar career for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He won his third World Series title and finished 223-96 with a 2.53 ERA and 3,052 strikeouts.

The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner wanted to pitch for the Americans in the 2023 tournament but was prevented because of insurance issues at a time he had a $20 million, one-year contract with the Dodgers.

Kershaw joins a U.S. pitching staff that includes right-handers David Bednar, Clay Holmes, Griffin Jax, Nolan McLean, Mason Miller, Joe Ryan, Paul Skenes and Logan Webb along with left-handers Tarik Skubal and Gave Speier.

"I'm just there to be there, I just want to be part of this group … this team seems like a really fun, awesome group," Kershaw said. 

The American roster also includes catchers Cal Raleigh and Will Smith; infielders Ernie Clement, Gunnar Henderson, Brice Turang and Bobby Witt Jr.; outfielders Byron Buxton, Corbin Carroll, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Aaron Judge; and designated hitter Kyle Schwarber.

The U.S., which lost the 2023 championship game to Japan, opens March 6 against Brazil at Houston, part of a group that also includes Brazil, Britain, Italy and Mexico. In that loss to Japan, Ohtani struck out his former-Angels teammate Mike Trout in a dramatic ninth-inning duel to clinch the title. 

Reporting by The Associated Press. 

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