Blake Snell took another step, supposedly, toward rejoining the Dodgers starting rotation on Tuesday night, but man, it felt more like a stumble than a stride. Pitching his fourth and what *could* be his final minor league rehab start for Triple-A Oklahoma City, this one on the road against the Salt Lake Bees, it was a straight-up labored effort. He only managed to go 3 2/3 innings, throwing a whopping 73 pitches, which is nowhere near the five innings the Dodgers were absolutely hoping to see him complete. This wasn’t pretty, folks.
The Mound Mayhem and Missing Control
Right out of the gate, it was trouble. Snell served up a leadoff home run to Kyren Paris, and that was just the start of his longball woes for the night. He gave up *another* one later, racking up two total longballs allowed. And the walks? Four of ’em! Just four pitches into the game, after that leadoff homer, Snell was apparently having issues with his front foot’s landing spot on the mound. The grounds crew actually had to come out and fix the dirt. Talk about an early red flag! He didn’t *appear* to have delivery problems after that fix, which is fine, but the fact that he then walked *four* batters? That just screams control issues, plain and simple, and it absolutely drove up his pitch count.
A Step Back from Form?
What makes this even more frustrating for Dodgers fans is how locked in Snell *had* been previously. Before Tuesday’s outing, he was showing excellent control on this rehab assignment, walking only one of his 29 batters faced over his first three starts! That lone free pass? It happened on July 18 for Oklahoma City right here in Tacoma, Washington, actually, so we saw a bit of him. But Tuesday was a complete flip. That 27-pitch second inning didn’t do him any favors in trying to get deeper into the game. He did manage two of his three total strikeouts in the fourth, his final frame, which is, uh, something? But you gotta ask yourself if that’s enough to shake off the rust from such a messy outing.
What’s Next For Snell and Dodger Blue?
So, here we are. The big question looming for the Dodgers front office: was this ‘enough’ to activate Snell next week and throw him back into the big league rotation? Or does he need another rehab start to try and find that previous excellent control again? You gotta think after giving up two bombs and walking four in under four innings, they’re probably sweating a little. They wanted five innings, he gave them less than four. It definitely leaves you wondering if he’s truly ready to rejoin the big club. We’ll be watching closely to see if they gamble on him or send him back for another round. This is gonna be interesting, no doubt.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by True Blue LA.
Leave a Reply