SAN FRANCISCO -- The Dodgers are a step closer to getting back a key member of their rotation, as left-hander Blake Snell is slated to begin a rehab assignment with Single-A Ontario on Wednesday evening.
Snell began the season on the 15-day injured list with left shoulder fatigue. He spent four months on the IL with inflammation in the same shoulder last year and said he never felt quite right, even after returning. In the first season of his five-year, $182 million contract with the Dodgers, Snell went 5-4 with a 2.35 ERA in 11 starts in the regular season and posted a 3.18 ERA across six appearances (five starts) in the postseason.
The Tower Buzzers, like their big league parent club, are also playing a team in the Giants' organization. Snell will start for Ontario in San Jose, about an hour south of San Francisco, with first pitch for that game scheduled for 6 p.m. PT -- 15 minutes before Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers take on the Giants at Oracle Park.
Snell's impending return sets up some competition at the back of the Dodgers' rotation. Beyond the rotation locks of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Ohtani, other pitchers such as Roki Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan and Justin Wrobleski will have to fight for their spots over the next few weeks.
Snell will likely build up to five innings and 75 pitches at minimum before rejoining the Dodgers, giving the three starters on the bubble until mid-to-late May to make their case to stay in the big league rotation.