Clayton Kershaw Reacts to Not Making Dodgers Wild Card Roster

Clayton Kershaw, who made his final regular season start on Sunday, will not be making an appearance for the Dodgers in the Wild Card round.

Kershaw made what could, in theory, be his final professional appearance on Sunday, earning a fitting final win in a masterful four-hit, zero earned run, seven-strikeout performance over the course of 5.1 innings. Because he wouldn’t be needed for the Wild Card round, Kershaw threw 94 pitches — the second-most he’s tossed all season.

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“I did everything I thought I needed to do,” Kershaw said after earning his 223rd and final career win. “I think my command wasn’t awesome with my fastball today, but the slider and the curve were pretty good; that kind of bailed me out when I needed it. I’m ready to go for whatever’s next.”

Kershaw hopes that whatever’s next involves an appearance in the NL Division Series, but the Dodgers have not yet — of course — said what they’ll do with the 37-year-old if they advance past the Wild Card round. First, the Dodgers must take care of Cincinnati.

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The Dodgers will host the Reds for the first of what could be a three-game series on Tuesday at 6 p.m. PT. While Kershaw won’t be directly contributing, the future Hall of Famer was unsurprisingly team-first in his response to not making the Wild Card roster.

“I’ll take the next few days to recover from this one and then come Saturday, just be ready for anything,” Kershaw said. “That’s the part of the playoffs that’s exciting, and there’s part of the playoffs that you just can’t prepare for either. You just do what’s asked of you.”

Kershaw did what was asked of him Sunday, ending with a swinging strikeout on the final regular season pitch of his career — one that Kershaw and the rest of the Dodgers organization hopes ends with a championship.

“I’ve always tried to do right by him, and he’s done the same for me and this organization,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters. “You just can’t find any superlatives to describe what he has done in his career and for this organization.”

For more Dodgers news, head over to Dodgers on SI.