The Los Angeles Dodgers have been without Blake Snell since the start of April when he was placed on the 15-day injured list due to left shoulder inflammation.
The hope was Snell would miss just two starts and return around April 18, which was the earliest day he could be activated. But the left-hander is going to be out longer than that as he has just started to make progress in his rehab and recovery.
Snell has been playing catch and throwing flat grounds, but a timeline for when he will face batters or start a potential rehab assignment remains unclear.
Part of the issue is Snell has continued to deal with discomfort in his shoulder, but it’s primarily when he wakes up in the morning. Otherwise playing catch this past week and a bullpen session on Saturday went well, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
Snell said he felt good during the bullpen session and all of his throwing sessions. But “the pain lingers here and there,” usually when he first gets up in the morning.
“Hey – I’m 32 now, not 23,” he said.
“Once I get throwing, I’m good. … When I play catch, I don’t feel it. When I get out here, I’m good. It’s like when I wake up I gotta get it going.”
Snell traveled with the team to Texas rather than staying back in L.A., which allowed him to continue working with team trainers watching and staying in close communication with him.
The left-hander had been dealing with the shoulder inflammation since the start of the season and attempted to pitch through it, which contributed to walking eight hitters and striking out just four across his nine innings.
Snell later underwent an MRI that revealed no structural damage in his shoulder, which the Dodgers considered the best-case scenario. After the results were further evaluated, Snell was recommended rest, rather than any procedure.
Will Blake Snell need a rehab assignment?
While Tony Gonsolin is nearing the end of a rehab assignment and Clayton Kershaw started his last week, it’s not yet clear if Snell will need to pitch for a Minor League affiliate as well.
“I think that’s contingent on how long he’s down,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said last week. “The longer, the more possibility. If it’s on the shorter side, then probably not. … It hasn’t been that long, so if he can get back and feel good, frisky, then we can move it quicker. And if not, then we’ve got to slow-play him.”
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