Blake Snell strikes out 10 in return vs. Royals

Snell makes his return to Los Angeles’ rotation with a start against the Royals on Tuesday following a three-month absence after undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow back in May. The 33-year-old southpaw’s checkered injury history remains an omnipresent concern for fantasy managers. However, he should be an impactful contributor, especially in the strikeout department, over the final six-plus weeks of the season.

That means Tarik Skubal will be pushed back a day to make his home debut on Monday with Justin Wrobleski going in Sunday’s series finale against the Diamondbacks in Arizona. Snell has been shelved since undergoing the NanoScope procedure to remove loose bodies from his elbow back in May. He could wind up being a major difference maker for fantasy managers down the stretch.

Snell also struck out three and threw 41 of his 73 pitches for strikes. It was clearly not his best outing, but we don’t want to read too much into starts in the PCL. Seeing better command would make us feel a little better about Snell’s immediate results when he returns from elbow surgery, but his velocity looked good, and he was up to 73 pitches, so he should be good to rejoin the Dodgers’ rotation. There may be some command bumps in the early going, but Snell figures to be an impactful fantasy starter down the stretch.

Snell is expected to throw around 75 pitches in Tuesday’s outing or around five innings depending on how things go. As long as he makes it through that start without any issues, he could be cleared to return as early as next weekend. Snell told reporters on Friday that his elbow feels as good as it has in years. He could wind up making a major impact down the stretch for fantasy purposes if he can stay healthy.

Snell threw a staggering 45 of 60 pitches for strikes and looked completely unhittable against low-level minor league hitters. He allowed just one baserunner over four frames. His next steps and return timeline remain murky since the Dodgers appear to be slow-playing the process in an effort to have Snell ready for the home stretch and postseason. The 33-year-old former fantasy ace is coming off nanoscope surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow back in mid-May. It’s challenging to forecast his next steps, but he should be close to making it back to Los Angeles.

There was some optimism that Snell would return to the majors this week, but that’s not happening. The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya reports Snell will aim for four innings during this next rehab outing. The 33-year-old southpaw has been out since undergoing elbow surgery back in May. He remains without a definitive return timeline and trying to anticipate his next steps is challenging given his injury history and the lack of urgency from Los Angeles to bring him back.

Snell is scheduled to throw four innings and roughly 60 pitches in his next rehab start on Wednesday, and, as Woo notes, the Dodgers would likely “prefer to wait to activate” the left-hander. However, starting on Tuesday, the Dodgers don’t have an off-day until August 6th, which means 10 days in a row with a game. If the team wants to avoid using Roki Sasaki and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on regular rest, as Woo indicates they might, then activating Snell and having him on a strict pitch count is something that the Dodgers would consider doing.

The 33-year-old southpaw is expected to throw four innings and around 60 pitches in that outing after throwing 32 pitches his last time out. After that, he’ll need at least one or two additional rehab starts before he’s ready to join the Dodgers rotation. The time is coming fantasy managers need to remain patient here as Snell could be a major difference maker down the stretch.

Snell, returning from surgery to remove debris from his elbow, also walked one and gave up a single in the 32-pitch outing. His fastball averaged 95.3 mph, which is right around his norm (95.1 mph last year, 95.9 mph in 2024). This was expected to be a short outing, so it’s probably no issue that he exited in the second. He’s expected to make three or four more rehab starts before rejoining the Dodgers.

It sounds like Snell is getting closer and closer to a return from a NanoScope procedure on his elbow. He’ll likely require more than one rehab start, but an August return is definitely in play for Snell based on the timing of this assignment.