Blake Snell was dominant in his second start for the Los Angeles Dodgers since returning from a stint on the 60-day injured list brought about by left shoulder inflammation.
Snell struck out a season-high 10 batters over five scoreless innings while allowing three hits and walking three. Snell struck out five of the first seven hitters he faced, and seven of the first 12 as he was locked in early on with swing-and-miss stuff.
“Yeah, it’s good, it’s getting better,” Snell said. “Just need to command the fastball better, get ahead. Started off good, and then as the game goes on, I just got to clean it up. Four-pitch walk to (Daulton) Varsho, got to be better, especially when I know what I can do to have a successful at-bat against him. So still a lot of work to do.
“There’s a lot of things I can do better and and help me get deeper into the game. But overall, feeling healthy. Really excited about that.”
Snell has now thrown 10 innings since returning from the IL, allowing three runs on eight hits with 18 strikeouts and looking like every bit the ace the Dodgers were expecting when they signed him to a five-year, $182 million contract.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has been “very surprised” by how quickly Snell has been able to shake off the rust after a long layoff. But for Snell, he’s relied on past experience and betting on himself to look like he hasn’t missed a beat.
“Yeah, I mean, I think the one thing is experience kind of trumps everything,” Snell said. “Pitched a lot in the big leagues so far in my career, and just the confidence, the trust I have and who I am right now, I think that plays a big part.
“But I don’t know if there’s rust. I don’t how I’d word it, but there’s something. Yeah, just the feel and the, ‘Oh yeah, I do this.’ Like if I missed the ball up, what’s my tell to get back down, and stuff like that.”
The Dodgers are relying on Snell to be a major part of their rotation for the rest of the season and into October. If he can pitch like he did on Saturday night the rest of the way, the Dodgers are going to be in a good position.
“I mean, when Blake’s on, he’s really, really tough to hit. As tough as anybody,” Michael Conforto said. “It’s pretty close to what we were seeing last year when he was really, really dominant. A lot of swing-and-miss stuff, he uses every pitch.
“Even if he looks like a big miss, he’ll use it to his advantage, and he’s just a smart pitcher in that way. He’s using everything, he’s got all this stuff, but he’s also a great competitor and a really smart pitcher as well. So if we’re getting that Blake Snell, that’s going to be great for us.”
Blake Snell searching for rhythm
Even with the strong outing, Snell felt like he could still improve, mostly with his command and getting deeper into the game. He found himself searching after his first few innings, but also felt like he can learn from it.
“Just trying to find rhythm, timing,” Snell noted. “I’m going slow, going fast, trying to figure it out. It’s only my second start back. There’s a lot I got to go through, learn, watched a lot of games, but I haven’t played a lot this year, so there’s still a lot to learn. And yeah, just really focused on that and getting better.”
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