Notorious SF Giants foe announces he will be retiring after 2025 season

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher and longtime nemesis of the SF Giants Clayton Kershaw has announced that he will retire following the 2025 MLB season. Giants fans will certainly not miss the veteran lefty.

SF Giants foe Clayton Kershaw announces his retirement

The Giants will face Kershaw on Friday night at Dodger Stadium in what will likely be his final time taking the mound against the Giants barring an unlikely meeting in the playoffs. He has made a habit of pitching well against the Giants over the years but hopefully the Giants can knock him around like they did last Saturday at Oracle Park when they got four runs off him and limited him to just three innings of work.

That is one of the few times the Giants have gotten the better of Kershaw in his career. Since he debuted back in 2008, Kershaw has a 2.08 ERA in 407 and 1/3 innings pitched against the Giants. He has been dominant against the Giants in his career which is not all that surprising considering he is one of the best pitchers of his generation and will certainly be a member of the Hall of Fame.

It is a little surprising that he is deciding to call it quits when he is still just 37 years old and one of his peers, current Giant Justin Verlander, is thriving at the age of 42. Yet, Kershaw has struggled with a lot of injuries in his career so his body may be telling him that now is the time to retire.

Of course, one cannot bring up Kershaw's career without mentioning his numbers in the playoffs. For as good of a regular season pitcher as he has been in his career, he has not been a good pitcher in the playoffs at all.

In 194 and 1/3 innings pitched in the playoffs, Kershaw has a 4.49 ERA. His most recent playoff appearance was a delight for Giants fans as he only recorded one out in Game 1 of the 2023 NLDS against the Arizona Diamondbacks while allowing six earned runs.

Kershaw has put up solid numbers this season with a 3.53 ERA in 20 starts, but one has to imagine that Dodgers fans are going to be nervous if they trot out the old dog in the playoffs given his history. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that the Dodgers won the World Series last year without Kershaw pitching at all in the playoffs due to injury.

The lefty has had an extraordinary career that will be enshrined in Cooperstown, but his dismal playoff numbers will forever be a part of his legacy and Giants fans will be the first to remind everyone about them.

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