Alex Vesia Credits Clayton Kershaw with Guiding Six Dodgers Seasons
Alex Vesia says Clayton Kershaw shaped the way he handles adversity, and the Dodgers reliever put that plainly in a conversation with AM 570’s David Vassegh. Vesia said Kershaw’s guidance and veteran presence changed how he approaches certain things, a view built over six seasons in Los Angeles.
“His guidance, his veteran presence day in, day out is definitely why I do certain things the way I do them,” Vesia said. He added, “We’ve had multiple conversations with having bad outings, having adversity, holding himself accountable and to standard. Without Kersh I definitely would not be in the position that I am. He’s been a great mentor for me.”
Kershaw’s Final Five Seasons
Vesia spent six of his seven MLB seasons with the Dodgers and overlapped with Kershaw during the left-hander’s final five seasons in Los Angeles. Kershaw spent all 18 of his MLB seasons with the Dodgers, building the kind of daily standard Vesia said he absorbed through repetition rather than speeches.
That overlap matters because Vesia came to Los Angeles ahead of the 2021 season and had to establish himself quickly in a bullpen that kept leaning on him. He posted a 3.55 ERA in 2021, then settled into a run of sub-4.00 ERA seasons after that except one, giving the Dodgers a left-handed arm they could trust in high-leverage innings.
310 Appearances for Los Angeles
Vesia’s track record gives his comments weight. He has a career 2.53 ERA, a 2.61 ERA as a Dodger and 310 appearances through six seasons with the club, numbers that turn a mentorship story into a real organizational result.
2024 was his busiest season by volume, when he led the Dodgers with 67 appearances and finished with a 1.76 ERA. In 2025, he finished second on the club in appearances behind Anthony Banda, and through 15 appearances in 2026 he owns a 1.42 ERA.
Dodgers Chase a Three-Peat
Kershaw’s résumé gives the advice added weight too: 3,000 strikeouts, three Cy Young awards and 11 All-Star selections across a career spent entirely in Los Angeles. Vesia’s comments line up with a Dodgers team chasing the first three-peat in franchise history, where bullpen consistency has to travel with the roster every night.
For Los Angeles, the practical read is straightforward: Vesia is not just describing respect for a franchise legend, he is describing a working template for how to survive bad outings and keep pitching. If the Dodgers are going to make history, they need that standard to hold in the bullpen as much as anywhere else.
