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It is called “Kershaw Day” in Los Angeles, and it will make its season debut Saturday when the Dodgers host the Los Angeles Angels in the middle game of their three-game series Saturday.

Left-hander Clayton Kershaw, recovered from offseason surgeries on his left big toe and left knee, will take the mound for the first time this season. Kershaw was limited to just seven starts last season and the injuries prevented him from participating in the postseason.

While retirement has been on the table for a few years now, Kershaw has said he does not want his Hall of Fame-worthy career to end on an injury. So he is back on another one-year contract at the age of 37 as the franchise leader in strikeouts at 2,968.

When he throws his first pitch Saturday, Kershaw will begin his 18th major league season, tying Zach Wheat and Bill Russell for the franchise record.

“I’ve thought about Saturday a lot. I’ve thought about getting back out there,” said Kershaw, winner of three National League Cy Young Awards. “… For me, just getting back out on the mound is a big first step, and then it’s the rest of the season, obviously. But just making it through Saturday and getting back out there is what I’ve thought about so far.”

He has reason to feel confident when facing the Angels, with a 10-2 record and a 1.99 ERA in 16 career starts against them.

Kershaw made five rehab starts in the minor leagues, finishing 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA in 21 innings.

“I’m envisioning a shot in the arm of emotion, of intensity,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I do believe in a player like Clayton, his track record, raising the level of performance, intensity to a ballclub, and that’s what I’m expecting tomorrow and going forward.”

Angels left-hander Tyler Anderson (2-1, 2.58 ERA) will get the chance to match Kershaw pitch for pitch. Kershaw and Anderson were teammates on the Dodgers in 2022 when both pitchers were All-Stars.

Anderson absorbed his first loss of the season Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles when he gave up three runs in five innings in a 7-3 game, but just one of the runs was earned after an error by third baseman Yoan Moncada.

“I feel in a better spot than I had been the last couple years, in terms of just command,” Anderson said. “I feel like, for the most part, I’m trying to make better pitches and just feel more comfortable out there than I think I had maybe the last couple years.”

Anderson is 3-7 with a 4.65 ERA in 16 appearances (15 starts) against the Dodgers lifetime.

After he was not in the starting lineup in three of the previous four games, Luis Rengifo was the designated hitter Friday and had hits in his first two at-bats of the Angels’ 6-2 victory.

A wrist injury last season and a hamstring injury in spring training have slowed the veteran of late. He entered Friday batting .209 after hitting .300 in 78 games last season.

“Somewhere along this year, he’s going to find it, because he does have the skill set,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. ” … He got off (to a bad start). You’ve got to fight to catch up. We’re just hoping that he can catch up.”

Moncada, Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel each drove in two runs Friday, with Moncada’s RBIs coming on a two-run home run in the first inning, his third.

–Field Level Media