Clayton Kershaw is back on Los Angeles Dodgers’ roster for the National League Division Series vs. Philadelphia.
Kershaw, who announced in September that he’ll be retiring at the end of the season after an 18-year career in Los Angeles, will be available out of the bullpen, manager Dave Roberts said Friday.
He was left off the wild-card series roster, largely because of his lack of availability. He started the game, pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings and threw 94 pitches last Sunday in the season finale, a 6-1 win over the Seattle Mariners.
A three-time Cy Young Award winner, the 2014 MVP and an 11-time All-Star, the lefty has an 11-2 record and 3.36 ERA this season over 112 2/3 innings across 23 games (22 starts).
Kershaw, 37, ranks second among active pitchers in wins (223) behind only Justin Verlander.
The Dodgers also are adding left-hander Anthony Banda (5-1, 3.18) to their NLDS roster, removing Justin Wrobleski (5-5, 4.32) and Edgardo Henriquez (2-1, 2.37).
Shohei Ohtani will get the Game 1 start vs. the Phillies on Saturday with Blake Snell set for Game 2, Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 3 and Tyler Glasnow in Game 4, if necessary.
Additionally, catcher Will Smith is on the Dodgers’ NLDS roster and available to catch although he didn’t play in the wild-card series due to a hand injury. Smith finished the regular season with a .296 batting average and 17 homers and 61 RBIs in 110 games.
