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Blake Snell is set to come off the 60-day injured list on Tuesday, and heading into that activation, the left-hander said he actually appreciated the difficulty of his final rehab start rather than cruising through it, per staff at DodgerBlue.com. Snell used the outing as a barometer for how he’d handle adversity with less-than-perfect stuff — and he liked what he found, even if the results weren’t pristine.

Snell began the 2026 season on the injured list due to left shoulder fatigue, a frustrating development for a pitcher the Dodgers committed significant money to after his dominant 2023 Cy Young campaign with the Padres. He managed just one start after initially getting activated before landing back on the IL for a second stint. That kind of stop-and-start pattern is exactly the thing that can derail a season for a pitcher, and it’s clearly been on Snell’s mind throughout the rehab process. The fact that he’s framing a rough outing as a positive — a chance to work through problems in a low-stakes environment — tells you he’s in a good headspace heading into his return. Snell has always been a high-ceiling, high-variance arm. When he’s right, he’s one of the best in baseball. When he’s fighting his command, innings get long fast. That tension has defined his career, from his Cy Young years in Tampa Bay and San Diego to the rocky free agency that eventually landed him in Los Angeles.

The timing matters here. We already knew Snell and Tarik Skubal were lined up for back-to-back home starts as the rotation takes shape, and Snell’s activation on Tuesday fits neatly into that plan. Getting Snell slotted into the rotation alongside Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto (who has been battling illness and recently lost eight pounds), and the rest of the staff is a significant step toward the pitching depth this team needs for a postseason push.

I find it encouraging that Snell isn’t sugarcoating where he is physically or mechanically. He struggled in that final rehab outing and instead of waving it off, he leaned into it. That’s a pitcher who’s being honest with himself about the work still ahead. Too often guys come back from the IL saying all the right things and then get exposed immediately. Snell is essentially saying, “I got tested and I handled it, even though it wasn’t pretty.” That’s a more useful data point than a seven-inning, two-hit shutout against minor leaguers would have been.

For the Dodgers, the bigger picture is straightforward: they need arms, and they need them healthy. The rotation has been a patchwork operation for stretches of this season, and the bullpen — particularly the back end with Brusdar Graterol and the ongoing Ángel Díaz situation — has been under strain. Every healthy starter who can eat innings takes pressure off the relief corps. Snell doesn’t need to be the 2023 version of himself right away. He just needs to give us five or six competitive innings every fifth day. If the shoulder holds up and the command tightens, the upside is obvious. Tuesday can’t come soon enough.

Source(s): Staff (DodgerBlue.com) | First reported: August 9, 2026 3:38 PM UTC

God Bless and Go Dodgers