Blake Snell completed his second rehab start this past Tuesday, looking much improved on the mound with three scoreless innings for Single-A Ontario.
Snell indicated after the outing the expectation was he would next pitch for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday. However, he is first with the Los Angeles Dodgers at the start of their road trip.
“Blake’s out here, I watched his ‘pen today. He’s going to join that OKC team on Sunday,” manager Dave Roberts said on SportsNet LA.
The Dodgers set a target of four innings and 60 pitches for Snell’s next outing. Roberts projects the left-hander to complete at least one additional appearance after that, equalling a grand total of four starts on the rehab assignment.
That would be in-line with the amount of starts the Dodgers’ projected for Snell at the outset of his rehab. That puts his return date around mid-May if everything goes well, slightly ahead of schedule from the Dodgers’ initial estimate.
Roberts previously set a goal of building Snell up to five innings before activating him off the injured list. The 33-year-old’s time in the Minors could be extended if he isn’t able to reach that objective in his fourth start. However, that shouldn’t be an issue given the rate at which he has progressed thus far.
Snell has been a supportive teammate to begin the year and is eager to return without rushing the process.
“I love rooting for them, I love their success. I definitely want to contribute,” he began. “I feel like I’m a big part of the team and I want to help badly. I can’t wait, but I want to be patient and make sure I do everything the right way. When it’s my time I’ll be ready.”
The Dodgers will be adding to a major strength once Snell is activated. The starting rotation has stabilized a bit, though Emmet Sheehan struggled on Friday night and Roki Sasaki remains a wild card. Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani and Justin Wrobleski otherwise form a strong group.
Despite Sasaki yet to find much consistency or success this season, the Dodgers have repeatedly said they will not be removing him from the rotation.
Projected Dodgers rotation with Blake Snell
With Sasaki’s position secured, Snell would slide into Sheehan’s spot in the rotation. While the 26-year-old’s mechanics and results have improved with each outing, it is likely not enough to beat out Wrobleski for the final spot given how well the left-hander had pitched this season.
Sheehan could find a new home as a bullpen arm in a hybrid role. He has previous experience pitching as a reliever in both the regular season and postseason.
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