Cortisone, Caution, and October: Inside the Dodgers’ Blake Snell Strategy

Blake Snell’s season with the Dodgers was supposed to begin with fireworks. Instead, it’s been ice, cortisone shots and caution tape.

The two-time Cy Young winner, who signed a five-year, $182 million deal with Los Angeles this winter, remains shelved with shoulder inflammation. He’s been stuck there since April 6, after just two starts in Dodger blue. Now, he’s finally inching back toward throwing again—but slowly, and on the team’s timeline, not his.

Snell received a cortisone injection earlier this week and is expected to travel with the team to Miami, where he’ll resume his throwing program, according to The Athletic‘s Fabian Ardaya. It’s a necessary reboot after a setback derailed his initial recovery plan.

And while it’s frustrating, it’s by design.

Dodgers Eyeing Big Picture

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made it clear the club isn’t in a rush to get Snell back on the mound. The bigger picture is October.

“I think Blake Snell is in that similar kind of bucket,” Roberts said, referring to the team’s careful timeline for injured reliever Blake Treinen. “Just appreciating the fact that we’re going to need him in the second half and beyond, we have time so take the time that way when he gets back, we can just go from there and not look back.”

Snell has been through this before. He made two trips to the injured list last season with the Giants, only to bounce back and throw a no-hitter against the Reds. So while he and the Dodgers are taking the slow path now, there’s a precedent for strong returns.

That said, the current situation is far from ideal. Snell is one of a staggering 13 Dodgers pitchers currently on the injured list, testing the limits of the organization’s depth. Still, Roberts insists that the priority is ensuring that his $182 million lefty isn’t just healthy, but fully ready when he returns.

“Certainly pain-free,” Roberts told Valentina Martinez of Dodgers Nation. “I think pain-free is one thing, and just building up arm strength. They’ve actually both been through this, so there’s a point of reference for both those guys.”

Snell was tapped as the Dodgers’ Opening Day starter—on U.S. soil, anyway—a signal that the club viewed him as the staff’s new tone-setter. But so far, that vision hasn’t materialized. Now the hope is that when Snell finally returns, he can hit the reset button and anchor the rotation like the Dodgers always planned.

Until then, it’s a waiting game. And with October looming large, L.A. is betting that the payoff will be worth it.

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