Clayton Kershaw’s legendary run with the Los Angeles Dodgers is officially in the books. After 18 seasons, three World Series titles, and a resume that will land him in Cooperstown on the first ballot, Kershaw walks away from the game with one final exclamation point: 3,000 career strikeouts.
That milestone came on July 2, 2025, in a start against the Chicago White Sox - a fitting stage for one of the game’s most dominant lefties. With that punchout, Kershaw became just the 20th pitcher in MLB history - and only the fourth left-hander - to join the exclusive 3,000-strikeout club. It’s a number that’s become increasingly rare in today’s game, and Kershaw knows exactly why.
In a recent appearance on Literally! with Rob Lowe, Kershaw opened up about the evolution of the starting pitcher’s role - and his hope that baseball might be on the verge of swinging back toward the days when starters ruled the mound.
“I think it’s going back. I feel it,” Kershaw said.
“As a fan of the game, I love watching baseball. I’ve always loved baseball.
I love the game. I just love it.”
That passion is unmistakable. And for Kershaw, it all starts with the starters.
“When you see the full slate of games, the first thing you do is, ‘Well, who’s the starting pitchers?’ If you see Skubal versus Crochet, or Skubal versus Skenes, or Skenes versus Cristopher Sánchez - ‘Oh, I want to watch that. I want to see that matchup.’”
It’s a sentiment many longtime fans can relate to. There’s something special about a true pitching duel - two aces going toe-to-toe, each trying to outlast the other. And while Kershaw made sure to give bullpen arms their due (“they’re unbelievable”), he made it clear that the magic of the game, for him, still lies in those marquee matchups between starters.
“At the end of the day, having those starting pitcher matchups is what’s so fun.”
But Kershaw also knows the game has changed. Starters don’t go seven or eight innings as often.
Pitch counts are tighter. Rest days are longer.
And the result? Fewer opportunities for pitchers to rack up innings, wins, and yes - strikeouts.
“I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to that. But hopefully having starters 110, 120 pitches, seven or eight innings, going every fifth day - hopefully we get back to that,” Kershaw said.
“Then you’ll have more guys throwing 200-plus innings and maybe you’ll see the more wins, which I know wins don’t matter, but it still feels good to see a win by your name. Maybe you get another guy with 3,000 strikeouts if we kind of go back to that.”
It’s a compelling point. In today’s game, the 200-inning, 20-win starter is becoming more and more of a unicorn.
Front offices are leaning into analytics, and the data often supports quicker hooks and deeper bullpens. But there are still a few arms out there who remind us of the old-school grind - like Detroit’s Tarik Skubal and Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes, both of whom Kershaw mentioned as must-watch starters.
And Kershaw isn’t alone in his concerns. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has acknowledged the shift, even suggesting last year that a minimum innings requirement for starters could be introduced to help restore some of that lost prestige. While enforcing something like that would be tricky, Manfred floated the idea of building incentives into the next collective bargaining agreement - rewards for starters who consistently go deep into games.
It’s a conversation that’s gaining traction, and Kershaw’s voice carries weight. He’s not just speaking as a future Hall of Famer - he’s speaking as a fan of the game, someone who wants to see the art of starting pitching return to center stage.
As for Kershaw himself, the curtain has closed on a remarkable career. But the appreciation from his Dodgers family is still pouring in. On the final day of 2025, teammates like Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Max Muncy shared heartfelt messages, paying tribute to the pitcher who defined an era in Los Angeles.
It’s rare to see a player spend nearly two decades with one franchise, rarer still to do it with the consistency, class, and dominance that Kershaw brought every fifth day. He may be done toeing the rubber, but his impact on the game - and on the next generation of pitchers - is far from over.