Blake Snell After experiencing arm fatigue in the offseason, his spring ramp-up was delayed. The two-time Cy Young Award winner is now certain to start the season on the 15-day injured list, but said he hopes not to miss too much of the regular season.
Snell threw a 15-pitch bullpen session Thursday, his first mound work of the spring. He later said he was targeting a season debut by the end of April (see links: Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic and Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register). Snell said he is essentially at the beginning of a typical six-week spring training workout.
Director Dave Roberts was less enthusiastic about confirming a specific schedule. “We have the luxury of being cautious and trying to make mistakes,” Roberts said, pointing to the team’s rotational talent. This is the Dodgers’ typical approach when it comes to regular season injuries. Their roster is so large that they enter each season with overwhelmingly strong playoff odds. They can afford to have players skip a few regular season starts in order to be able to use them later in the year when games are more meaningful.
Snell’s 2025 campaign is an example. He made only 11 starts and pitched 61 1/3 innings during the regular season due to shoulder inflammation. But he came out firing on all cylinders in October and posted a 3.18 ERA in 34 frames in the postseason. Snell had three outstanding starts in the first three playoff rounds, once each in the Wild Card Series, Division Series, and NLCS. The Blue Jays had little success with him in his two World Series starts, but Snell’s pivotal four outs in relief in Game 7 helped set the stage for next season. Yoshinobu Yamamoto Extra-inning hero.
The Dodgers haven’t made an official announcement, but the obvious choice to take the ball against the Diamondbacks on Opening Day is Yamamoto. (They’ll probably be watching to see how Yamamoto’s schedule goes during the World Baseball Classic.) Tyler Glasnow will follow. Shohei Otani Although he will not play during the WBC, he is playing side sessions and is expected to be part of the opening day rotation.
Sasaki Loki He battled his command during two spring training starts, walking five batters in 3 1/3 innings. That led the Dodgers to shake things up and insert him into a minor league away game against the White Sox prospect on Tuesday. Sasaki struck out nine and threw 59 pitches out of the backfield with no walks. “I just don’t see a world in which (Sasaki) isn’t with us as a starting pitcher,” Roberts told MLB.com’s Sonja Chen and other reporters, reiterating that the 24-year-old will start the season in the MLB rotation.
Gavin Stone Joined Snell on the season-opening injured list. It’s all guaranteed Emmett Sheehan You will land in a rotational spot. They could have a nine-man bullpen (Ohtani, as a two-way player, doesn’t count against the 13-pitcher limit), or they could either: Justin Wrobleski or Ryan River This completes the 6-man rotation. He will inevitably end up in a six-man rotation at some point, but since March 29 and April 2 are off days, he may be content with a five-man rotation during the first week of the regular season.
