Clayton Kershaw is reminding fans why Dodgers keep bringing him back indefinitely

While fellow future Hall of Famers Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer have him beat, Clayton Kershaw is one of the oldest starting pitchers in baseball at 37. He was drafted in 2006, when now-teammates Dalton Rushing and Alex Freeland were five. Over the past two seasons, he's battled injuries and seen his performance dip, but the Dodgers keep bringing him back.

It makes sense for both parties. Kershaw wants to meaningfully contribute to a World Series win with the team that drafted him, and the Dodgers would never say no to bringing back a homegrown living legend.

However, with the way Kershaw's 2024 went, and knowing that his 2025 season was going to start late, fans had to wonder if the lefty was just going to call it a day — and if that might actually be in the best interest of the club.

Kershaw's responded this year by proving that even if he might not be the exact same pitcher he was in 2014, he's still got some of the stuff that will make him a shoo-in first balloter.

On Tuesday against the Reds, he pitched five innings and only gave up two hits, a run, and no walks while striking out six. He has a 1.88 ERA through five starts in August and a 3.06 ERA on the season.

Clayton Kershaw's performance in August is justifying Dodgers' undying faith in him

Kershaw hasn't been quite as dominant as Verlander and Scherzer were in their age 37 seasons, but a guy who ran the risk of overstaying his welcome and becoming at best an afterthought and at worst a liability for the Dodgers' rotation is having an outstanding year. And the Dodgers just play better baseball when he's on the mound; Yoshinobu Yamamoto's year has already been meme'd to death because of the run support he doesn't get, while Kershaw doesn't seem to have that problem. He has nine wins to Yamamoto's 11 and only two losses to Yamamoto's eight.

He's already earned every single performance bonus built into his contract, which was already a relatively thrifty one for a guy destined for Cooperstown.

The last step is clear: Kershaw needs to pitch well in October and the Dodgers need to win it all. He's clearly a man on a mission who will keep coming back until both of those things happen. Despite some early reservations, he's proving that he's still capable of helping them get there.