Blake Snell’s first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers has not gone according to plan so far, as the 32-year-old currently finds himself on the 60-day injured list after making just two starts.
Snell has not appeared in a game since April 2, as he deals with left shoulder inflammation. The Dodgers were initially hopeful that Snell wouldn’t be absent for too long, but an initial attempt to work his way back to the roster was met with lingering shoulder trouble.
Snell resumed his throwing program on May 14 after visiting with Dr. Neal ElAttrache. He previously began a throwing program after only a few days of rest in early April, but he was shut down due to continued shoulder pain.
He has not been hampered by pain or discomfort this time around. Snell shared it was a liberating feeling to have after dealing with it since March, via “Dodger Talk” with David Vassegh:
“The pain has finally gone away. I haven’t played catch without pain, probably since we were in Japan. I’m pretty excited about that. It just feels good to finally play catch again and be able to work on something. Throwing with pain sucks.
Snell was already dealing with left shoulder inflammation prior to the Dodgers’ home opener and he continued to pitch through it in his first two starts of the season. He initially brushed it off as normal wear and tear players pitchers experience during the early going.
Snell has since realized the mistake he made thanks to the benefit of hindsight, and explained he was blinded by his eagerness to pitch this season:
“You don’t notice it when you’re in it. It’s like, ‘Oh, it’s going to go away,’ because that’s usually what we go through. ‘It’s just early, it will go away.’ But it was pretty tough when it didn’t. I probably should’ve stopped throwing before Opening Day, but I wanted to pitch so bad. That made it worse than it was probably going to be, but I’ll learn from it.
The whole situation has taught Snell to listen to what his body is telling him, and it is a lesson he is going to carry with him:
“It’s tough, man. You want to compete, want to play. New to being a Dodger, I wanted to show everyone how great I am and what I can be. Got a little too far ahead of myself. So learn from it.”
The Dodgers transferred Snell to the 60-day injured list this month, which made June 2 the earliest date he can be activated. That didn’t figure to be in the cards even without the paper move as Snell has yet to start throwing off a mound.
He and the Dodgers nonetheless are encouraged by Snell being able to play catch multiple days thus far without issue.
Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell timelines
The Dodgers don’t have a clear picture of when they expect Tyler Glasnow and Snell back in their rotation. But manager Dave Roberts estimated that Glasnow is further along at this point by a slight margin.
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