Dodgers News: Clayton Kershaw Shifting to Bullpen Role for NLDS
It'll be Clayton Kershaw in the bullpen, per Dave Roberts
PHILADELPHIA, PA—Veteran left-hander Clayton Kershaw is set to return to the Dodgers roster after missing the Wild Card Series due to pitching Sunday’s season finale in Seattle, but he’ll be doing so with a twist.
Rather than return to the Dodgers’ starting rotation, like we fans saw for the first eighteen years of his Major League career, Kershaw will shift to the bullpen for the National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
“He’ll be on the roster,” Roberts said. “He’s going to be out of the ‘pen and used as such.”
Regardless of how it unfolds, the 37-year-old Kershaw has had a positive final season. Despite starting late in 2025 after offseason surgery, he pitched 112 2/3 innings, second on the team, and posted a 3.36 ERA over 23 appearances (22 starts). In his last week, he briefly appeared in the bullpen before his farewell start, pitching a perfect 1-2-3 inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Kershaw’s role in the bullpen was somewhat eluded to in recent weeks as Roberts indicated that he’d return to the roster after the Wild Card Series, but with the team only needing three or four starters, the writing was on the wall for the lefty.
However, the Dodgers’ bullpen could use all the reinforcements it can get, as over the last month of the season, they’ve struggled immensely, and that was the narrative that has followed them to this series.
Kershaw is the latest starter to shift to a bullpen role for Los Angeles, joining fellow arms Emmet Sheehan and Tyler Glasnow, who Dave Roberts also confirmed is available in relief for Game One of the NLDS.
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