Nick Martinez Replaces Clayton Kershaw on Team USA’s World Baseball Classic Roster

It was announced yesterday that San Diego Padres starting pitcher Nick Martinez will be replacing Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw on Team USA’s 2023 World Baseball Classic roster.

Martinez was in USA’s designated pitcher pool when the rosters were officially announced earlier this month, meaning he wasn’t officially on the roster but could replace a pitcher if necessary.

Kershaw is unable to participate because an insurance policy failed to clear him.

Before Martinez was in the designated pitcher pool he had committed to pitch for Team USA as a reliever but then pulled out because getting ready to be a starter for the Padres was more important to him than being in the World Baseball Classic.

“That was really tough, really tough,” Martinez told the San Diego Union Tribune before replacing Kershaw. “It was eating me up. It still does a little bit. You know, you don’t get called on to represent your country very often.”

It won’t have to eat him up anymore, as he’ll get to keep a starter’s workload and represent his country at the same time.

Below is the updated list of San Diego Padres participating in the World Baseball Classic, which starts next month:

• Yu Darvish (Japan)
• Ha-Seong Kim (Korea)
• Nabil Crismatt and Julio Teheran (Colombia)
• Manny Machado, Juan Soto, Luis Garcia and Nelson Cruz (Dominican Republic)
• Seth Lugo (Puerto Rico)
• Xander Bogaerts (Netherlands)
• Brett Sullivan (Italy)