LOS ANGELES — For the third consecutive season, Blake Snell is returning from an injury in the second half of the season. He’ll be activated off the 60-day injured list on Tuesday to start against the Kansas City Royals, and the Dodgers are looking for another strong finishing kick, which has become the norm for Snell.
Snell made four rehab starts on his latest minor league rehab assignment, topping out at four innings, and lasted 3 2/3 innings last Tuesday for Triple-A Oklahoma City. While his first
start back might not be too long, he’ll be expected to fill innings once he gets his legs under him.
“The goal is five and 75, but to get him through five innings would be great,” manager Dave Roberts said Monday. “I think if we could get him through five [Tuesday], which would be great and which he expects, we should be able to treat him like a normal starter, given that he has an extra day or two between those starts.”
Snell’s talent has been evident for his entire career, but staying on the field hasn’t been his hallmark. Of his 11 major league season he’s reached 130 innings twice, and won a Cy Young Award in both seasons — 2018 with the Tampa Bay Rays and 2023 with the San Diego Padres.
In 2025, the first season of Snell’s five-year, $182 million contract with the Dodgers, he only made 11 regular season starts, and won’t quite reach that number this year. But the Dodgers are more concerned about Snell being one of their postseason rotation anchors, as he was last year with three Game 1 starts, a 3.18 ERA and a Dodgers postseason record with 41 strikeouts.
Strong finishes have been an annual tradition for Snell of late, usually after returning from injury. In 2024 with the San Francisco Giants Snell was sidelined by a left groin strain, last year with the Dodgers was shoulder inflammation, and this year the last three months were spent rehabbing from May arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow to remove loose bodies.
“It’s been a long season for me. I can’t wait to getting back to pitching and figuring everything out again, just seeing how good I can be,” Snell told Kirsten Watson on SportsNet LA over the weekend in Arizona. “I only have so many games to see that, so I’m excited to get good really quickly and help the team win.”
Here are Snell’s finishing kicks for those seasons, plus his 2023 Cy Young Award season:
- 2023 (Padres): final 23 starts, 19 runs allowed, 1.20 ERA, 3.12 xERA
- 2024 (Giants): final 14 starts, 12 runs allowed, 1.23 ERA, 1.89 xERA
- 2025* (Dodgers): final 14 starts, 26 runs allowed, 2.71 ERA, 2.56 xERA
*including postseason
“I feel very confident. I had a good conversation with him [Sunday], and he’s on a mission,” Roberts said of Snell. “I like when great, talented players have that mindset. He hasn’t unfortunately been a part of this whole season, but from here on out it’s a sprint, and he’s very focused.”
