Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw has a hilarious reaction to facing Shohei Ohtani in the World Baseball Classic

Recently retired Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw announced his intention to play in the 2026 World Baseball Classic on Thursday, humorously reacting to the prospect of pitching against reigning NL MVP and former teammate Shohei Ohtani during the tournament.

Kershaw and Ohtani played together with the Dodgers in 2024 and 2025 before the southpaw officially retired from the MLB after LA won the World Series last season.

‘I’m not going to pitch for Shohei in any meaningful game’ Kershaw said to The Athletics. “I’ll tell you right now. He’d knock it so far away from me right now.”

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Kershaw’s concerns about pitching for Ohtani are valid, as the two-time superstar has made easy work of some of the best pitchers in the world in recent years.

In 2025, Ohtani hit a career-high 55 home runs and recorded 102 RBIs. He slashed .282/.392/.622 last season and led the national league in slugging percentage and OPS while leading the MLB in runs scored. He earned his third consecutive MVP award last year, becoming only the second player in MLB history to do so.

However, Ohtani went 0-for-11 with four strikeouts against Kershaw throughout his career.

Kershaw shouldn’t be too shy about taking on Ohtani and Team Japan, as he also had a respectable season for the Dodgers during their 2025 World Series campaign.

In his age-37 season, Kershaw posted a 3.36 ERA in 23 appearances while striking out 84 batters in 112.2 innings pitched. He also has the qualities to rival any player in the world, having won an MVP award and three Cy Young awards in his illustrious career.

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Team USA and Team Japan sit on opposite sides of the WBC bracket, with Team USA in Pool B and Team Japan in Pool A. The two teams will not meet until the semifinals of the tournament, when the remaining teams receive new seeds based on their records in the previous rounds.

Since the two teams are the favorites heading into the tournament, it is entirely possible that Team USA and Team Japan will meet at some point late in the tournament. While Kershaw seems adamantly against pitching to Ohtani, Team USA still has plenty of pop weapons at their disposal as they pursue their second WBC title.

Photo credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images