The next time Clayton Kershaw takes the mound will be on Opening Day against the Rockies, and the left-hander (and the Dodgers) hope it goes much better than his last two Spring Training outings.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said pregame the hope was to get Kershaw through at least five innings in his last spring tuneup. Instead, Kershaw was only able to get through 3 1/3 innings and the results weren’t too pretty.

In the Dodgers’ 11-0 loss to the A’s on Friday, Kershaw allowed nine runs (eight earned) on nine hits, striking out six and walking two. With Friday’s start, Kershaw allowed 13 earned runs in his last 7 1/3 Cactus League innings. He finished Cactus League play with a 10.22 ERA in four appearances.

But despite the recent struggles, Kershaw said there were some positives from Friday’s outing.

“It hasn’t been good, for sure, but tonight I actually felt like there were some pitches that were better, so it’s good to know it’s in there,” Kershaw said. “At times I felt like I knew what I was doing, so that’s good. Just be ready to go.”

While admitting that he needs to pitch better moving forward, Kershaw said he’s not concerned or worried about his tough Spring Training. Once he steps out onto the mound in Colorado, the Cactus League numbers won’t mean anything.

However, there are things Kershaw needs to fix. His curveball was much better on Friday. His slider was not. Kershaw also had a couple of close calls go against him.

“I thought the most important thing is we got the pitch count up,” Roberts said. “I think the pitching was good. I think the results weren’t good, obviously. … When you’re talking about a regular-season big league ballgame, there’s scouting that goes into it. Right now, it’s just getting the pitch count up, and that’s what we did.”

Kershaw's fastball velocity has been concerning this spring, too. He has been around 88-91 mph throughout the spring. Kershaw was reportedly at 90-91 mph on Friday. That’s a positive step in the right direction. The Dodgers have maintained their thought that adrenaline during a regular-season start will help Kershaw get a boost in velocity, which will, in turn, help his breaking pitches that much more.

We’ll find out in just six days.

“I don’t have a choice, so I’m going to be ready,” Kershaw said, when asked about Opening Day. “I’m excited to get going. I really am. I’m excited to get there and, you know, have that adrenaline, those butterflies and get going again. I’m excited about it.”

Fifth starter job still undecided

The Dodgers will start the season with Kershaw, Trevor Bauer, Walker Buehler and Julio Urías in the rotation -- though not necessarily in that order -- but the team is not ready to announce who the fifth member of the rotation will be.

What we’ve known for a while, however, is that it’ll come down to David Price, Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May. Price made his last appearance in a “B” game on Tuesday and Roberts said the left-hander was around 91-93 mph with the fastball. He’s scheduled to make his next start on Sunday against the Angels in the first game of the Freeway Series. Gonsolin will follow Price in relief.

Price has made it known this spring that he’s open to the idea of coming out of the bullpen. While the decision hasn’t been made, it could make sense to have Price as a reliever, at least to start the season. He would give the Dodgers another left-handed option to go along with Víctor González.

May and Gonsolin have both made their impressions this spring, but at least one of them will have to be a multi-inning reliever at the start of the season. May, who said he “sure hopes'' to be in the rotation, has been pitching his best at the right time. He has 13 strikeouts in his last two Cactus League starts.

Nelson out of the bullpen, Peters optioned

Right-hander Jimmy Nelson was added to the 40-man roster on Thursday and on Friday, Roberts confirmed that Nelson will be on the Opening Day roster as a multi-inning reliever. Nelson was one of the bright spots for the Dodgers this spring. He gives the Dodgers even more starting pitching depth. Nelson struck out nine over seven scoreless innings this spring.

Having Nelson in the bullpen leaves three open spots in the Dodgers’ bullpen. Two of them will be occupied by the two starters that lose out in the fifth-starter competition. The other will likely be decided between right-hander Dennis Santana and left-hander Scott Alexander.

Outfielder DJ Peters was optioned to Minor League camp, reducing the camp roster to just 35. That number trims when you consider Mitch White, Brusdar Graterol and Joe Kelly won’t start the season with the team due to injuries.

Knebel exits

Corey Knebel was hit by a liner off the bat of Mark Canha in the fifth inning and was removed from the game. Knebel was able to throw Canha out at first and walked back to the clubhouse on his own.

Roberts said the move to pull Knebel was mostly out of precaution, though the team should find out more soon.

“Just at first glance and talking to trainers, it was kind of lower back,” Roberts said, when asked where Knebel was hit. “He didn’t seem too concerned about it, he was still moving. I’m sure there’s going to be some soreness. But I just felt right there, as a precaution, there’s no need to push it in that situation. I’m expecting him to be fine tomorrow, and we’ll go from there.”