Correspondent Lee Dae-ho = Veteran left-handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw (35, Los Angeles Dodgers), who won Cy Young Award three times and virtually booked induction into the Hall of Fame, failed to participate in the first World Baseball Classic (WBC).
Kershaw met with reporters at the Dodgers spring camp in Glendale, Arizona, USA on the 18th (Korean time) and announced that he would not be able to participate in the WBC.
“It’s really disappointing. 카지노사이트 I tried a lot to find a way to compete, but it didn’t work out,” Kershaw said. “It’s not my fault. I really wanted to play because it was my last chance to be part of Team USA.”
The WBC, which is held a month before the opening of the major league regular season, is not uncommon in cases where MLB players and clubs confront each other over whether or not to participate.
Athletes want to represent their country, and clubs are concerned that a high-priced player will be injured or fail to manage his condition, making it sluggish in the regular season.
However, Kershaw was not selected for the national team even though the club agreed to participate.
“The Dodgers have been great,” Kershaw said.
MLB.com revealed that it was the insurance company that prevented Kershaw from playing.
The WBC Secretariat has made it compulsory for major league players to purchase insurance in case they are injured while participating in the tournament.
Based on Kershaw’s history of injuries in recent years, the insurance company concluded that it would not pay out if he was injured at the WBC.
Kershaw expressed regret, saying, “I didn’t want to interfere with the season preparation by participating in the WBC in the past. But I was really looking forward to this tournament and thought it would be a motivating all-star game.”
“It’s unfortunate that Kershaw can’t be with us,” said US national team general manager Tony Riggins. We need to shift our focus,” he said.
Kershaw is an ‘active legend’ pitcher with 197 wins, 2,807 strikeouts, and an average ERA of 2.48 in his professional career.
There is a story that he will enter the Hall of Fame even if he retires right away, and in the recent two seasons, he only played 22 games each due to injury and failed to fill the required innings.
Kershaw, who joined spring training ahead of the scheduled date to prepare for the WBC, got an unwanted day off.
Kershaw said, “While the loss to the WBC is disappointing, it’s not as important as the Dodgers. It’s time to prepare for the regular season.”