Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts revealed they will have veteran pitcher and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw on the World Series roster.
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Roberts told reporters Thursday that Kershaw will indeed be on the roster.
“He’s on the roster, yes,” Roberts said.
Roberts added that he would love to see Kershaw play in a World Series game one day.
“I would love to have Clayton there at some point, but I’m going to use the best players that I think are the best at that particular time, so if that happens that would be great,” Roberts said.
The 37-year-old left-hander will retire after this season. He announced his retirement just over a month ago after 18 great years in the league, all spent with the Dodgers.
The maximum number of games Kershaw could throw/play in for the remainder of the season (and his career) is seven.
The Dodgers will now turn their focus to capturing their ninth championship in franchise history, beginning that quest on Friday when they take on the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 1 of the World Series.
Los Angeles enters the series as betting favorites, despite not having home field advantage. According to BetMGM, the Dodgers are sitting at -220 to win the World Series heading into Friday’s Game 1, giving them an implied 68.75 percent chance of defending their title.
For Game 1, the Dodgers are listed as -150 road favorites, while the Blue Jays are listed at +125 to win at home.
Kershaw is having a solid regular season. In his final season of his career, he posted an 11–2 record with a 3.36 ERA, 84 strikeouts and a 1.22 WHIP in 23 games, 22 starts and 112.2 innings on the mound.
As for the playoffs, he has only pitched in one game and that was in Game 3 of the National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. It was a performance to forget as he pitched two innings and recorded zero strikeouts while allowing four earned runs in what was their only loss of the postseason.
The 37-year-old will attempt to participate in his fourth World Series after missing out on the postseason last year.
Photo credits by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images
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