SAN FRANCISCO -- Left-hander Blake Snell reached a key milestone in his rehab from left shoulder fatigue on Wednesday night, appearing in his first game this year with Single-A Ontario.
Snell threw 32 pitches (21 strikes) across one-plus innings against Single-A San Jose, about an hour south of Oracle Park, where both affiliates' parent clubs -- the Dodgers and Giants -- were facing one another. Snell allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits and a walk, without recording a strikeout.
The day before, manager Dave Roberts said Snell was scheduled for three innings, but the plan was actually for him to pitch two, which made sense because Snell had only done two ups in live batting practice. Just because Snell got up to two innings while facing hitters does not necessarily mean that he was ready to stretch out further in his first game since the World Series.
"It’s been a long time so I’m just ready to pitch," Snell said Thursday. "That’s so much fun for me. I can’t wait for the next one."
Snell pitched around some traffic in his first inning, giving up a leadoff single followed by a walk to his first two hitters. But he was able to erase one of those baserunners by turning a double play, and he stranded the remaining runner on third by generating an inning-ending popout to first base.
All four batters Snell faced in the second inning reached base, but he also didn't get much help from his defense. Cam Maldonado reached on a fielding error by second baseman Joendry Vargas, then stole second base and scored on a Damian Bravo double. Bravo stole third base and scored on a Jeremiah Jenkins single. Fernando Gonzales reached on a fielder's choice, but Jenkins was safe at second base due to a fielding error from third baseman Chase Harlan.
That ended Snell's night, and right-hander Accimias Morales stranded the pair of runners he left on base.
"I feel great," Snell said. "Just pitching again felt awesome. I was real happy with that. Stuff-wise, I’ll clean that up, get it better. The bottom of the mound I kept slipping, I don’t know why. That was tough for me. Overall I felt good, stuff was good, I like the confidence, the prep before the game, how I felt."
Snell began this 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 goal is for Snell to stretch out to around five innings and 75 pitches before he is an option to return to the Dodgers. Since he got into the second inning on Wednesday, Snell should have at least three more rehab starts ahead of him, putting him on track to be activated by the end of May.
"My goal is to dominate innings, try to use the least amount of pitches as possible so that will push the end, or I can go to the bullpen and throw," Snell said. "The first two will be a lot of patience and learning, figure out where I’m at. After that, that’s when I hit the gas pedal and really go."