“I would have loved to have stayed [in the game], but bigger things, man, bigger things,” Kershaw said after his first start of the season. He added that Roberts made “the right decision” to pull him despite the circumstances.

“Blame it on the lockout,” Kershaw said. “Blame it on my not picking up a ball for three months [during the offseason].”

Kershaw, whose stellar career has been interrupted by a number of injuries, sat out two months last season with a forearm/elbow issue. He aggravated the injury when he returned in September and missed the Dodgers’ postseason run, which ended with a National League Championship Series loss to the Atlanta Braves. Kershaw reportedly waited until January to begin his offseason throwing program, and his ability to ramp up to regular season competition was hindered by the owners’ lockout, which shortened spring training.