Clayton Kershaw unfortunately won’t be able to help his teammates on the field during the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 2024 postseason run, but as a guy with plenty of October experience, he can remain a motivator despite being on the sidelines.

A toe injury ended Kershaw’s season, but he is committed to playing again in 2025. It’s unclear if that will be with the Dodgers, but all that matters is that he’s here now.

Kershaw, while he hasn’t been himself in recent seasons, is still a Dodgers legend and everything he says and does will have significant meaning. Therefore, fans believe that his most recent comments were used strategically to motivate his team and the fanbase.

Much of the talk in recent days has focused on Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts as they have lit the Dodgers’ offense on fire en route to a 3-2 NLCS lead against the New York Mets, while the latter two games coming up in LA.

Kershaw was asked about Ohtani and Betts as a 1-2 punch presence, and the future Hall of Famer tried to think about whether he’s faced a similar duo. He thought about it for a moment and realized he had done that… but then negated its impact. Have the 2017 Houston Astros ever come up so naturally in conversation?

Clayton Kershaw motivates Dodgers players, fans with critical Astros comments

Astros fans are especially bothered by this, especially since they feel extra childish after being eliminated in the Wild Card round against a red-hot and inexperienced Detroit Tigers team. No bins this year, and the result was the worst since 2016! Look at that.

There’s no doubt that Kershaw still has some opinions about that World Series. The 2017 Dodgers were a wagon, taking Houston to the brink in Game 7 but falling short. It was later revealed that the Astros orchestrated an illegal sign-stealing scandal that permanently jeopardized the 2017 campaign and possibly the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

Kershaw, Kiké Hernandez, Walker Buehler, Chris Taylor and Austin Barnes still remain off that roster and would certainly want to avenge that heartbreaking loss with a full-season World Series in 2024. The Dodgers have defied the odds this year, despite have been decimated by injuries and need every last push they can get as they are just one game away from the Fall Classic ahead of a tough AL matchup.

Kershaw is never one to stir the pot, but something tells us he knew what he was doing here. The more the Dodgers can leverage that lead to propel their postseason run, the better. And some Astros tears along the way never hurt anyone.