Dodgers' Kershaw set for season debut in Year 18

LOS ANGELES -- Clayton Kershaw will make his season debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels.

The 37-year-old left-hander began his 18th season with the team on the injured list while recovering from toe and knee surgeries. His return comes at a critical time for the Dodgers, with starters Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and rookie Roki Sasaki on the injured list.

"It's a big shot in the arm," manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday. "Clayton has worked really hard to get healthy and the bar is high for him. He doesn't want to just come back to be active. He wants to be come back and help us win baseball games and be good. I know he's excited to contribute."

Kershaw struck out two and gave up a pair of runs and two hits and two walks in his final rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday. He threw 57 pitches over four innings.

"It felt good to be focused on pitching," he told KLAC-AM before Tuesday's game. "The last few times I pitched last year I just focused on how much my foot was hurting. Just focusing on the next pitch as opposed to what hurts. It's been a hard road, but I'm feeling good."

Roberts said Kershaw's imminent return "adds an element of certainty and performance."

The three-time Cy Young Award winner will tie Zack Wheat and Bill Russell for the most years with the Dodgers franchise when he starts this weekend. He and Russell are the only players to log 18 seasons since the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958.

"I'm tired of taking up space," Kershaw said. "I want to contribute and help the team out."

Kershaw is 32 strikeouts from reaching 3,000 to go with his 212 career wins.

He remains determined to eventually retire on his terms rather than let circumstances dictate his plans. His family is "a huge motivating factor as well," he said.

"If I go out there and get shelled and I'm not good anymore that's one thing," Kershaw said. "If another hitter gets the best of me that's one thing, but I'm not going to let it do it to myself."

He made only seven starts last year before his season ended in August because of pain in his left big toe. He watched from the sidelines as the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees to win their eighth World Series title.

Kershaw has been following his teammates on TV.

"It's a great team. Forty games in, you can see a lot of things that are going really well," he said. "I just want to be a part of it."