Clayton Kershaw

Clayton Kershaw is a professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). A left-handed starting pitcher, Kershaw has spent his entire MLB career with the Dodgers since debuting in 2008. He is a ten-time All-Star, three-time National League (NL) Cy Young Award winner, the 2014 NL Most Valuable Player and a 2020 World Series champion. His 2.48 career earned run average (ERA) and 1.00 walks plus hits per inning pitched rate are the lowest among starters in the live-ball era (minimum 1,000 innings pitched). He is widely regarded as being one of the best pitchers of all-time.

Kershaw was drafted seventh overall in the 2006 MLB draft. He worked his way through the Dodgers' farm system in just one full season, and reached the majors at 20 years old. When he debuted in 2008, he was the youngest player in MLB, a title he held for one full year. In 2011, he won the pitching Triple Crown and the NL Cy Young Award, becoming the youngest pitcher to accomplish either of these feats since Dwight Gooden in 1985.

Kershaw pitched a no-hitter on June 18, 2014, becoming the 22nd Dodger to do so. He has led MLB in ERA five times, and was the first major league pitcher to do so in four consecutive years (2011–2014). Kershaw is also a three-time NL wins leader and three-time NL strikeouts leader. As a left-handed strikeout pitcher playing for the Dodgers, Kershaw has often drawn comparisons to Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax.

Off the field, Kershaw is an active participant in volunteer work. He and his wife launched Kershaw's Challenge and wrote the book "Arise" to raise money to build an orphanage in Zambia. He has been honored with the Roberto Clemente Award and the Branch Rickey Award for his humanitarian work.