The Los Angeles Dodgers don’t expecting starting pitcher Blake Snell to be ready for opening day as the left hander is dealing with a shoulder injury that kept him sidelined for most of the 2025 season as well
The Los Angeles Dodgers don’t expect starting pitcher Blake Snell to be ready for opening day. The two-time Cy Young winner is dealing with a shoulder issue that plagued him last season as well.
Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts told reporters it will be “hard” for Snell to be ready for Opening Day since, while he is progressing, Snell is still only throwing off flat ground.
“Time’s ticking, but like I told him the other day, Opening Day is not necessarily a hard and fast target for us,” Roberts said.
Snell joined the Dodgers on a five-year, $182 million contract he signed Nov. 30, 2024, but was injured for most of the 2025 regular season. He was the Dodgers’ Opening Day pitcher and made one more start before the Dodgers placed him on the injured list and didn’t return to the mound until Aug. 2.
Snell has had injury concerns in the past, as he dealt with a shutdown in September 2021 with an abductor strain, limited to 24 starts in 2022, also due to an abductor injury, and two separate trips to the injured list in 2024.
Across only 11 starts last season, Snell had a 2.35 ERA, 72 strikeouts, and a 1.255 WHIP in 61.1 innings. He was healthy for the postseason, though, where he made five starts on six appearances.
He threw six shutout innings against the Philadelphia Phillies in game two of the NLDS and eight shutout innings against the Milwaukee Brewers in game one of the NLCS. He also made two World Series starts, letting up five runs in each, before pitching 1.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen in game seven.