Blake Snell returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers rotation on Saturday, marking exactly four months since he last pitched before landing on the 15-day injured list due to left shoulder inflammation.
Snell was sharp overall, pitching five innings while allowing three runs, striking out eight and walking none. All three runs came on a pair of home runs to Yandy Díaz.
The homers were unfortunate outcomes for Snell as both fly balls that carried over the wall to short right field were not hit well. The first would have only left the yard at George M. Steinbrenner Field among all MLB stadiums, while the second was a homer in just three of the 30 ballparks.
Neither home run qualified as a hard hit ball (95 mph or greater) and both had an expected batting average below .170. Unfortunately, the Rays are playing at a Spring Training stadium, and it came back to haunt Snell.
Despite the cheap home runs, Snell was happy with his overall results in his return and thinks he can continue improving.
“I’ve got to go over it, debrief, see what I liked, didn’t like,” Snell said. “I liked that I was in the zone more than I thought I would’ve been. You’re trying to feel it out again. I liked that I was in the zone, I was confident, I knew what I wanted to do.
“The first homer to Yandy, that was not a good pitch, I thought. On the second homer, I thought that was a really good pitch to him. Just a good result for him.
“But yeah, overall, in the zone, curveball will get better, changeup I was happy with, slider I was happy with, fastball command can get better. Just things I’ve got to work on, but overall, first start back, emotions, there’s a lot to get better.
“It was a good start. The worst part was we lost. I go out there to win, so got to get better and find a way to win. But definitely something to build on, learn from, and get better.”
The most encouraging sign was Snell recorded 19 swings and misses in just five innings, which led to his eight strikeouts. Seeing no walks in the box score was also positive, especially considering a high walk rate is something Snell has always dealt with.
Snell’s changeup and slider were both locked in as well. His changeup had an elite 43% called strike plus whiff rate, and his slider was even better at 55%.
“It’s been feeling good in the rehab process,” Snell said. “Reno was tough, just because the ball doesn’t move there. So I was pretty sporadic that start, but for a good reason.
“I was adjusting how I threw the changeup, just to try to get movement. So to have this start and be back behind the ball, throwing it just like the fastball, getting swing and misses, it was a good feeling. It’s where it needs to be.”
Snell has made just three starts for the Dodgers after his latest outing, but they hope he can be a major piece for them down the stretch and into the postseason.
His return presented a lot of hope for that expectation.
Getting back on the mound was key for Blake Snell
Snell still has some adjustments to work through, but he’s feeling healthy and had some relief to be back on the mound.
“The biggest thing was getting back, being able to pitch, learn,” Snell said. “It’s the first one. Happy to get it out of the way and learn. I’ve got five days to see how much better I can get, and then go face Toronto and see what work I did to get ahead of where I’m at now.”
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