{"id":621582,"date":"2026-03-13T10:36:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T10:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/621582\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T10:36:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T10:36:26","slug":"blake-snell-throws-his-first-bullpen-session-of-spring-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/621582\/","title":{"rendered":"Blake Snell throws his first bullpen session of spring training"},"content":{"rendered":"

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> <\/p>\n

PHOENIX \u2014 Unable to ramp up through the first month of spring training because of lingering shoulder soreness, Dodgers<\/a> left-hander Blake Snell<\/a> took a step toward readiness Thursday, throwing his first bullpen session.<\/p>\n

Two hours before Thursday night\u2019s Cactus League game, Snell threw off the mound in front of a group of reporters and fans at Camelback Ranch. Snell threw 15 pitches \u2014 all fastballs \u2014 sitting between 87 to 89 mph.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel good,\u201d Snell said after his bullpen. \u201cI was very excited to throw off the mound again and pitch. I\u2019ve been looking forward to this for a while. This being like the first one where I actually could have the catcher down. I was still limited to what I could throw. I was throwing 87 to 89 [mph]. It felt effortless, easy, could command the ball, so [I\u2019m] happy with that. [I\u2019m] just happy to continue to grow and get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two-time Cy Young Award winner says he\u2019s targeting an April return, and that he\u2019s hoping to get back faster than initially expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to pitch in April,\u201d Snell said. \u201cThat\u2019s my goal. So, I\u2019ve kind of been the one pushing it, and they\u2019re being more cautious. I think we\u2019re just talking a little back and forth, but I think them seeing me throw a pen today, hopefully that just gives them more confidence to keep it going. I think we won\u2019t really know until I throw a live [batting practice], I think that\u2019s when we\u2019ll really know. How do I recover from that? How do I feel? And then that will be like, \u2018OK, let\u2019s get him into games.\u2019 That\u2019s what I would envision. I\u2019m not the front office or Dave, but that\u2019s what I would think.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts<\/a>, however, isn\u2019t ready to give a timetable for Snell\u2019s return.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think honestly, to think about when he\u2019s going to come back, we\u2019re just a ways away from even really having that conversation,\u201d Roberts said, noting that six weeks is \u201cthe floor\u201d when you also account for a potential rehab assignment.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the depth of their pitching staff, the Dodgers can afford to be patient with building up Snell. Right-handers Emmet Sheehan and River Ryan, along with left-hander Justin Wrobleski, are all possibilities for starting assignments early in the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still need him to pitch, and I know he understands that,\u201d Roberts said of Snell. \u201cBut we do have the luxury of trying to err on the side of caution. … We are certainly better when he\u2019s pitching for us, when he\u2019s active.\u201d<\/p>\n

Snell, for his part, is thankful to be throwing again without shoulder pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole offseason, I mean, every throw kind of hurt,\u201d Snell said. \u201cIt was just every throw, I could feel my shoulder. It was just cranky and I couldn\u2019t get it going. And I thought I was doing everything I needed to, and I believe I was, and ultimately, I\u2019m feeling better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> PHOENIX \u2014 Unable to ramp up through the first month of spring training because of lingering…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621583,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2406],"tags":[5,114,16629,39,80151,1982,80153,1165,4332,4333,774,57,3224,4331,4,5733,7879,80152,1602,8576,9482,151,4878,313],"class_list":{"0":"post-621582","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-dodgers","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-blake-snell","10":"tag-conversation","11":"tag-dodgers","12":"tag-first-bullpen-session","13":"tag-front","14":"tag-key-step","15":"tag-la","16":"tag-la-dodgers","17":"tag-ladodgers","18":"tag-los-angeles","19":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","20":"tag-losangeles","21":"tag-losangelesdodgers","22":"tag-mlb","23":"tag-mound","24":"tag-pitch","25":"tag-readiness-thursday","26":"tag-roberts","27":"tag-saturday-night","28":"tag-snell","29":"tag-spring-training","30":"tag-throw","31":"tag-yoshinobu-yamamoto"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116221429869878553","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}