Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw Will No Longer Pitch for Team USA in WBC

The All-Star announced his withdrawal from the international tournament.

The Dodgers’ three-time Cy Young Award winner, Clayton Kershaw announced on Friday that he was withdrawing from the World Baseball Classic.

Kershaw initially announced in December that he would be pitching in the games, but will now not be participating.

#Dodgers Clayton Kershaw: on missing the WBC: "I really wanted to be a part of that group, probably my last chance to do it, so I really wanted to do it. But just didn’t work out for a number of reasons. Disappointing, but that’s OK, I’ll be ready for the season and ready to go.”

— Juan Toribio (@juanctoribio) February 17, 2023

The veteran pitcher did not go into detail as to why he chose to withdraw from the tournament. On Wednesday, Kershaw mentioned complications that he faced in the process of finalizing his participation.

“There’s some complications right now,” Kershaw said. “Still working through some of that stuff now. I don’t have any finite answers. But assuming I’m on the team, I’ll be there when everybody else is. That’s all I really have on that one.”

With the hurdles that arose, Team USA’s manager Mark DeRosa spoke to The Athletic about how passionate Kershaw was in trying to still play.

“I’m blown away that he was willing to pursue every avenue to try and put the USA across his chest and represent us in the WBC,” Team USA manager Mark DeRosa told The Athletic. “At the end of the day, it just seemed like there were way too many things he had to do. 

Although many fans were looking forward to seeing the nine-time All-Star compete, Kershaw will unfortunately not have the opportunity to showcase his talents on the international level. On the other hand, the pitcher will have the extra time to continue his training for the regular season.