The Los Angeles Dodgers transferred Blake Snell to the 60-day injured list, opening up a spot on the 40-man roster for Santiago Espinal, who was re-signed on Friday.
Snell’s IL initial stint was retroactive to May 12 and he now can’t come back until July. However, this is more of a paper transaction to open up space, rather than a new update on Snell’s health.
The left-hander underwent left elbow surgery on May 19 to remove loose bodies. Snell had the less-invasive NanoNeedle Scope procedure, which speeds the recovery timeline. Typically, removing loose bodies from the elbow results in a recovery time of about three months, which is similar to Edwin Díaz’s timeline.
“It went well. As well as to be expected,” manager Dave Roberts said about Snell’s surgery. “I guess the nano thing was a good thing, obviously. So the recovery is cut much shorter. I don’t have a timeline. I just know that it’s shorter than what we initially anticipated.”
Tarik Skubal had the same procedure done on May 6, and he quickly resumed playing catch and has since thrown multiple bullpen sessions. Dr. Neal ElAttrache performed the surgeries on Skubal and Snell.
Snell previously dealt with loose bodies in his throwing elbow. He last underwent surgery to have some removed during the 2019 season, which resulted in him being out from late July until the middle of September.
What day can Blake Snell return?
The earliest Snell is now eligible to be activated off the injured list is Friday, July 10. That’s three days before the All-Star break begins.
Dodgers make series of roster moves
Espinal was added to the Dodgers roster as part of the same transaction. He replaced Hyeseong Kim, who was optioned to Triple-A. In addition, the Dodgers also placed Teoscar Hernández on the 10-day IL and recalled Ryan Ward.
“Yeah, I think if you look back in the last couple days, Kiké is out with an oblique, he had the scans, don’t really have a timeline for when he’s going to come back,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts began. “Teo, we lose to a left hamstring. Had the scans, it turned out to be a Grade One hamstring strain, which is a positive. So just imagine that it would be a little bit shorter than originally thought, still don’t really have a timeline for Teo.
“And then we also sent down Hyeseong Kim. We optioned him just to kind of get Hyeseong back on track, to get some regular bats. We’re going to give Alex Freeland a little bit more runway at second base. And then we also brought Ryan Ward back to play some outfield. He’s having a really nice year down in Triple-A, so he’ll get a start this weekend, probably Sunday. And then we also signed back Santiago Espinal. He cleared waivers, so Espy is back with us, and he’ll be in the lineup tomorrow.”
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