Blake Snell will get one more rehab start next Tuesday, with Triple-A Oklahoma City set to send him to Salt Lake City as the Dodgers keep the left-hander one step away from a possible return. The decision came Thursday after a brief huddle among Dave Roberts, the front office and Mark Prior, and it pushes Snell’s comeback from elbow surgery out at least one more outing.
That answer matters now because Snell looked ready to move faster after throwing 60 pitches in four scoreless innings for Class-A Ontario on Wednesday night. He said his fastball sat between 95 and 97 mph and that his mechanics are “way better,” which made the next step feel close enough for the Dodgers to debate whether to stop the assignment there or hold him back once more.
Instead, the plan is clear: five innings and 75 pitches in what Snell said will be his fourth rehab start this time around. That workload suggests the Dodgers want one more checkpoint before they decide whether he is ready to join the rotation, and it gives them a cleaner read on whether the elbow that needed May surgery can hold up under a fuller outing.
Snell said the surgery brought immediate relief. The shoulder pain that had lingered for two seasons went away once the loose bodies were removed, and he said he could feel fingers that had gone numb for about a year and a half. “I’m 10 times better,” he said, though he added that the curveball still needs work.
That is the part that complicates the tidy return. Snell is feeling better, throwing harder and sounding more confident, but the Dodgers are still keeping him in the minors for one more start rather than asking him to finish the job in a major league game. He has already learned how quickly a buildup can turn into a setback, and this time he is following the plan rather than arguing with it.
What happens next is straightforward even if the final answer is not. Snell goes to Salt Lake City next Tuesday for the 75-pitch test, and the Dodgers will use that start to decide whether he is ready to come back or whether his rehab needs another turn before he is finally back for good.
