Max Scherzer Praises Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw Following Retirement

The Dodgers' campaign for their second consecutive World Series title had plenty of implications regarding individual players' legacies.

Miguel Rojas launched himself into instant Dodgers folklore with his game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth in Game 7 of the World Series. Shohei Ohtani did what no baseball player has ever done multiple times, whether it be reaching base nine times in a single game or pitching six scoreless innings and hitting three home runs — in the same game.

However, in addition to the list of notable accomplishments achieved by members of the Dodgers, pitcher Clayton Kershaw quietly added another championship title to his illustrious career. The 37-year-old made just two appearances in the Dodgers' 14-game postseason run, but he made his final appearance count, forcing a ground ball to clean up a loaded bases situation he inherited in Game 3 of the World Series.

That ground ball was Kershaw's last pitch of his illustrious, 18-season career, as the future Hall of Famer announced late in the season that he would be retiring after the 2025 season.

Even late in his career, Kershaw's ability to win games impressed his peers, including Max Scherzer — who also has a one-way ticket to Cooperstown.

"He knows how to do all the little things and shows you he can still win ballgames, even with reduced stuff, which I love, because it just destroys all the minds of all the analytics and all the people who say you can't pitch like this," Scherzer told ESPN. "He goes out and shows you, you can. We can't model everything about pitching. Analysts don't have all the answers. For me, when I see him go out there and do his thing like that, I love it because it gets to shut up a lot of people."

Despite his ability to serve as a competitive starting pitcher, Kershaw was relegated to the bullpen this postseason because of the dominant rotation of Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell and World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Kershaw, a lifelong Dodger, took what many would see as a disappointing demotion on the chin.

"You want to be on the best team," Kershaw said. "Yeah, there may be some opportunities where I could've started somewhere and been a part of a postseason run as a starter, but I want to be here, I want to be a Dodger, and that means being around the best group of guys. It makes a lot of sense to me that this is probably the right time to be done, when you're not one of the best four when you're perfectly healthy. I'm at peace with that, and I feel good about it."

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