There is no time like the present for Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell, who will skip his final rehab start and make his season debut Saturday night against the visiting Atlanta Braves.
Snell has not pitched in a game since recording four outs in Game 7 of the World Series on Nov. 1, when the Dodgers clinched their second consecutive title with a victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Shoulder inflammation cost him four months last season and another month-plus to start the 2026 campaign.
“(We tried) to figure out if (Snell was) open to taking the five innings here versus on rehab, and he couldn’t be more excited to do that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Snell’s return comes as the Dodgers placed right-hander Tyler Glasnow on the 15-day injured list Friday due to spasms in his lower back.
Snell is 0-2 with a 2.49 ERA over five career starts against the Braves, with the most recent coming last season when he allowed five unearned runs over four innings of an April no-decision.
After a 3-3 road trip to St. Louis and Houston, the Dodgers opened a seven-game homestand Friday with a 3-1 comeback victory against the Braves. Shohei Ohtani had a game-tying, RBI single in the fifth inning, and Freddie Freeman ended a monthlong home run drought with a long ball to center in the sixth against his former team.
Freeman has 100 home runs in five seasons with the Dodgers after leaving the Braves following the 2021 season.
“They’ve been playing really good baseball, and we obviously put together a really quality game,” Freeman said.
In the middle game of the series, the Braves will send right-hander Spencer Strider (0-0, 8.10 ERA) to the mound for his second start of the season.
In his 2026 debut on Sunday against the Colorado Rockies, Strider gave up three runs on four hits over 3 1/3 innings with five walks and six strikeouts in his team’s 11-6 victory. He had been out since the start of the season with a left oblique strain.
“I’d rather be pitching than hurt, for sure, but I don’t want a participation trophy,” a disappointed Strider said. “I’m here to help the team win games. I’m getting paid a ridiculous amount of money to do it (six-year contract worth $75 million), and if I can’t, then that’s a problem. So let’s find a way to be more effective. (I’ve) got a lot of work to do.”
Strider is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in three career starts against the Dodgers but has not faced them since 2023. In his lone start at Los Angeles in August 2023, he gave up four runs on four hits with nine strikeouts in six innings while earning the win.
The Braves scored their one run Friday on an Austin Riley single in the second inning. They had just three hits in 4 1/3 scoreless innings against five Dodgers relievers and went 1-for-10 in the game with runners in scoring position.
Atlanta arrived at Los Angeles after losing a series for the first time when they dropped two of three games at Seattle this week. The Braves’ current two-game losing streak is their second-longest skid this season after a three-game streak April 4-6.
–Field Level Media
