GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Even though it’s just Spring Training, Clayton Kershaw’s trot to the mound sparked roars and screams from a sold-out Camelback Ranch crowd on Friday. It was the veteran left-hander’s first Cactus League start of the year.

Kershaw gave up a long home run to the first batter he saw, Angels left fielder Taylor Ward, on the second pitch of the game. He settled in for a scoreless second inning, but gave up another homer to third baseman Kevin Padlo to lead off the third. Kershaw’s day ended after three innings, having allowed three runs on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts on 58 pitches.

Despite the results, the 34-year-old relished the chance to get back out on the mound and face hitters.

“I mean, it was good to get back out there again,” said Kershaw following his outing in the Dodgers’ 6-5 win. “Everything feels good physically. Obviously, I've got some stuff to work on. But overall, it’s a good first step, just make some improvements and get back out there.”

The three-time National League Cy Young Award winner, who made just 22 starts in 2022 due to back issues, has been slowly building up this spring, primarily throwing bullpen sessions and working through drills on the back fields. When healthy, Kershaw’s 15th season was one of his best as he went 12-3 with a 2.28 ERA, 137 strikeouts and only 23 walks. Had he thrown enough innings to qualify, his 184 ERA+ would have been third best among MLB starters, slotting him between teammate Julio Urías and White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease.

Kershaw’s path towards the beginning of his 2023 Cactus League campaign was complicated by the World Baseball Classic. He committed to pitch for Team USA in December, but then announced in February that he would not be participating. The change in plans affected the timing of his ramp-up, delaying the start of his spring, even though he arrived in Glendale healthy.

“He was expecting and wanting to pitch for Team USA,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I think that the [slower process] was kind of a way to reset his mind. To work together to slow him down a little bit, take a step back, to gather his thoughts and emotions. Because this [the WBC] was something he wanted to do and it just didn’t work out, unfortunately.”

From Kershaw’s perspective, the drawn-out buildup has actually worked to his advantage, in terms of how comfortable he feels throwing at this stage of the spring.

“Last year proved that we showed up on March 5 and had enough time to be ready to go,” he said. “I feel like having that extra time in Spring Training to get here and go a little bit slower, I kind of like it, honestly. So we’re kind of on the full-go now -- I’ll be pitching in games and building up the pitch count. But that first week, 10 days, it was kind of nice to chill out for a minute.”

At this point in his career, coming off of an injury-riddled season, Kershaw just wants to make sure that everything is working properly, both physically and with his stuff. Early on, getting the feel of throwing in a game again -- which is markedly different from throwing on the back fields -- is most important.

“I mean, you’d like to have everything working, so that you can just kind of focus on getting hitters out,” said Kershaw. “But ultimately, there’s usually something that you need to get better. That’s no different for me now.”

With Tony Gonsolin’s sprained ankle clouding the Opening Day picture, the Dodgers’ rotation will lean on Kershaw and Urías to continue to lead the charge. For now, Roberts liked some of what he saw from Kershaw.

“I thought the ball was coming out good,” said Roberts. “The velo was 92-93, so that was encouraging. I don’t think that he was too pleased with the command, and today, he just didn't have a feel for the slider. But we got the pitch count up and got through three innings, which is a positive.”