Clayton Kershaw faces Pat McAfee ahead of World Baseball Classic with Team USA

Clayton Kershaw returned to the mound on Monday, but not for his beloved Los Angeles Dodgers. 

The three-time Cy Young Award winner, who retired on top after the 2025 season, was on the mound throwing a bullpen session for Team USA’s practice ahead of the World Baseball Classic, which begins later this week. 

Kershaw rode off into the sunset following back-to-back World Series titles for the Los Angeles Dodgers, punctuated by a dramatic Game 7 triumph over the Toronto Blue Jays. But before Cooperstown comes a calling, Kershaw wanted to scratch one more thing off his bucket list: wearing the red, white, and blue on the mound for Team USA. 

Kershaw sat down with ESPN television host Pat McAfee on Monday during Team USA’s practice to talk about his decision to retire, to return for the WBC, and also share insights on being in the locker room with Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. 

Following the conversation, Kershaw and McAfee took turns facing off on the mound and at the plate for charity. 

“My arm told me it was time,” Kershaw said, seated across from McAfee, reflecting on why he walked away. 

Still, he’s available to pitch for the next three weeks. “I’ll throw zero. I’ll throw every game. It doesn’t matter,” he told Team USA manager Mark DeRosa. He called the WBC a bucket-list dream, describing its atmosphere as October with a national anthem wrapped around it.

Kershaw later grinned and said he thought he still had “enough” to get McAfee out on the mound.

McAfee, for his part, looked like a man who’d just challenged a mountain when he decided to face off with the former MVP. Aaron Judge had offered him advice beforehand: “aim for the mountain beyond the outfield.” It didn’t help. MLB’s teaser clip showed McAfee spiking a pitch into the opposite batter’s box before muttering, “There’s no way I’m going to throw it over the plate.”

Upon seeing the video above, McAfee tweeted his respect for Kershaw, and admitted he had “no idea where the ball was going. IT ALL HURT SO BAD.”

The full results of the face off between McAfee and Kershaw have yet to be released publicly, but the California Post will publish them here once they do. 

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