LOS ANGELES — Blake Snell hasn’t faced a hitter since his one and only start this season back on May 9. That’s lucky for them, he thinks.
“I’m so good right now,” Snell said after throwing off the Dodger Stadium mound briefly on Wednesday afternoon. “I can’t wait to pitch.”
Seven weeks after surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow, Snell still has several steps to take before that happens. But he will take one of those steps on Saturday, when he is scheduled to face hitters in a live batting practice setting for the first time since the surgery.
The bullpen sessions he has thrown recently have left Snell even more anxious to finish his recovery. His curveball is better than it has been in years, he said. The velocity on his fastball and his ability to throw it wherever he wants have Snell excited – “I’m dotting,” he said of his command.
The surgery on his elbow even did wonders for the chronic shoulder pain he had been dealing with the past few years.
“Probably the best I’ve felt in two years,” he said.
“I’m pain-free. I always had some form of pain, but you just battle through it. I thought it was just going to be there forever. I was, ‘Alright, it’s something I’m just going to have to deal with. I’ll battle through it.’ Then I had the surgery and as soon as I started throwing again I was, ‘Hey, my shoulder feels good.” I was in great spirits, just real happy. … I have no more pain in my arm. I throw freely. My body feels great. I can locate a pitch where I want too now. That’s pretty cool. All the time now, not just once in awhile.”
Snell said he knew he had loose bodies in his elbow even after arthroscopic surgery in July 2019, but he was pitching well and didn’t connect that with the persistent shoulder pain that limited him in 2025.
“Once I got the loose bodies removed, I don’t feel my shoulder anymore,” he said. “I was like, ‘Wow.’ I was really doing something to limit this (elbow) that hurt this (shoulder) because now I don’t feel anything at all.”
Like fellow two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, Snell’s surgery was done using the ‘NanoNeedle’ technique, a less invasive procedure that promises shorter rehabs. Skubal had his surgery two weeks before Snell and was throwing bullpen sessions just two weeks after the operation, touching 98-99 mph. He was back pitching for the Detroit Tigers on June 13.
Snell calls Skubal “a unicorn” to be able to do that and his timeline “crazy.” Matching that himself was never possible.
“It was two different surgeries,” said Snell, who shares an agent (Scott Boras) with Skubal but doesn’t share the pressures to return that Skubal (a free agent this winter) has.
“His was 30 minutes. They chipped the bone down, took the bone out. I had bones on each side of my elbow and through my canal (in the back of the joint). So it was a 2½-hour surgery compared to 30 minutes. It’s two different surgeries. A lot more was done.”
So much downtime during the season for the second year in a row has also motivated Snell to make some changes in his diet and workouts aimed at making this the last time he has to sit out for so long.
“I’ll be better. I believe it,” Snell said. “I think there’s a lot more I can do. I’ve just got to get healthy and stay healthy. I’m taking all the right steps. I’m taking my diet seriously. My workouts, Pilates – I feel like I’m doing everything I can to play.
“This (rehab) is part of it which sucks. I’m not accepting it. It just is what it is. All I can do now is every day do what I can to ensure I can pitch full seasons and be healthy.”
TIPPING POINT
After his poor start against the San Diego Padres last week, the Dodgers were suspicious that Roki Sasaki had been tipping his pitches in some way. Manager Dave Roberts said before Sasaki’s start Wednesday that they found “a couple things” that Sasaki needed “to clean up.”
“The truth is there’s cameras everywhere so guys are always looking for an advantage. You’ve got to keep your closet clean. He’s worked on that,” Roberts said.
“We’ve addressed it and hopefully it’s cleaned up in the heat of the moment.”
ALSO
Relief pitcher Edwin Diaz, returning from his own surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow, faced hitters in a second live BP session on Wednesday. Roberts said the staff would discuss what the next step for Diaz will be. He is expected to return after the All-Star break.
UP NEXT
The Dodgers are off Thursday.
Diamondbacks (TBA) at Dodgers (RHP Shohei Ohtani, 8-2, 1.79 ERA), Friday, 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM