The Los Angeles Dodgers starting rotation is down an ace-caliber starter already.
Blake Snell is unlikely to start the season with the Dodgers since he is battling a lingering left-shoulder injury that plagued him in 2025.
Snell, who signed a five-year, $182 million contract with the Dodgers before last season, made just 11 starts in his first season with the Dodgers due to discomfort in his throwing shoulder. But he rebounded to make six appearances, and five starts, for LA while helping it win its second straight World Series.
The Dodgers will open their season March 26 at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Dave Roberts: The Odds of Blake Snell Starting 2026 With the Dodgers ‘Are Probably Zero’
Snell has not yet made an appearance this spring for the Dodgers, since his offseason throwing program started late due to left shoulder inflammation.
According to MLB.com’s Sonja Chen, Snell is throwing only from 90 feet — rather than long tossing from up to 180 feet, like his fellow starters — and has not thrown off the mound yet over the first two weeks of spring training in Glendale, Arizona.
So when asked about Snell’s progress over the weekend, Roberts was blunt to reporters.
“Heâs not on a mound right now. Heâs not in games,” Roberts said. “The odds of him starting the season [in Los Angeles] are probably zero.â
Snell will probably start the season on the injured list, since he will need to build up. Plus, the Dodgers will want to play it safe with their ace-level lefty in the season’s early going, especially with this issue lingering from last year.
The Dodgers Starting Rotation is In Flux to Start 2026
The Dodgers are likely to start the season with Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki available as their top-three starters.
But with Snell unlikely to start the year on the active roster, and no telling what Shohei Ohtani’s status will be, the Dodgers intend to have a slew of pitchers built up to start the year.
“With pitching, you never know what’s going to happen as far as the health part of it,” Roberts said. “To have so many guys built up, obviously, just gives us a lot of optionality.”
Ohtani is slated to be a member of the rotation, but Chen reported he is unlikely to be built up to go deep into games — since he won’t pitch for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic. Beyond those four, the Dodgers likely will throw Emmett Sheehan and Gavin Stone and may even incorporate bullpen games, which Roberts has deployed in the past.
The Dodgers have largely held back players, and especially pitchers, during the regular season so their stars could be 100% in time for October. They took their time building Ohtani back up on the mound so he he could make four starts in the postseason — three of which were of six innings.
So don’t be alarmed if Roberts and his boss Andrew Friedman try out some unheralded starters on the mound, especially in April until Snell gets back. The goal for LA is to win a third straight World Series, and it won’t be able to do so without healthy pitching in October.
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