The Los Angeles Dodgers appear to have avoided disaster despite Blake Snell leaving his last start after one inning due to left groin tightness.
Snell has a long history of adductor/groin strains, but has been encouraged by what he believed was getting out ahead of his latest trouble. The left-hander was back to playing catch on Friday, throwing from out to 90 feet.
“I’m very hopeful that he’ll make a start before the end of the season,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Snell’s turn in the rotation has him lined up to face the San Diego Padres, but that doesn’t appear to be in the Dodgers’ plans.
“I think that I don’t see Snell pitching in this next series against San Diego. There’s a potential that last series in San Francisco,” Roberts said. “He’s trending very well.”
Roberts had previously indicated whenever Snell makes his final start of the regular season that it would be a normal outing rather than a shortened tuneup before the postseason.
“Maybe not pushing him a ton, but given we don’t know how the season is going to play out, this will be his last regular season start. So I think it would be more of a regular start,” Roberts explained.
The Dodgers are still jockeying for playoff seeding and stand to benefit from finishing at least second in the NL to secure a first-round bye.
Avoiding the Wild Card Series would give the Dodgers four days off before starting the postseason with the NL Division Series on Oct. 2. The extra time off would benefit Snell, even if he does manage to make a final start in the regular season.
In the meantime, not having Snell pitch again until the final weekend of the regular season could be seen as providing extra time to recover from the groin issue, and perhaps have some strategy behind it as the Padres are a possible playoff opponent for the Dodgers.
Will the Dodgers shut Blake Snell down?
While there is still reason for the Dodgers to continue winning games, getting healthy — whether Snell, Shohei Ohtani or others — is of importance as well. And with the possibility of a long layoff before October baseball begins, the Dodgers aren’t keen on the idea of not having Snell pitch again even if he’s shown capable of being sharp immediately upon returning.
“There’s a thought, but you’re still talking about a potential 17 days, something like that. That’s a long time to not be in competition,” Roberts noted.
“Where typically with his history, you still have rehabs and things like that. It’s just not kind of a plug-and-play; sit out for two weeks and pitch in a playoff game.”
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