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Dodgers’ Blake Snell takes step forward in recovery from ‘cranky’ shoulder

March 13, 2026

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Blake Snell played the waiting game this winter.

Bothered by shoulder pain all season last year, the left-hander had an MRI after the World Series that showed inflammation but nothing more. He was told to “rest, do PT (physical therapy) … three, four times a week.” And then he waited.

It wasn’t until he arrived at spring training in mid-February that he said he finally felt pain-free.

“Probably right when it started. I finally felt good,” Snell said. “The whole offseason, I mean, every throw kind of hurt. It was just every throw I could feel my shoulder like, ‘Ah, it’ll get better, it’ll get better.’ But it was just cranky. I couldn’t get it going.

“I thought I was doing everything I needed to do, which I believe I was. Ultimately, I feel better.”

Snell spent the first three weeks of camp throwing only on flat ground, testing the shoulder with long toss and higher-intensity throws. The two-time Cy Young Award winner finally got on a mound this week. Thursday’s throwing session consisted of 15 throws (five to the catcher standing up then 10 with him down behind the plate), all fastballs kept in the 87-89 mph range.

“I feel good,” Snell said after the low-intensity throws. “I was very excited to throw off the mound again and pitch. I’ve just been looking forward to this for a while. So this being the first one where I actually could have the catcher down – I was still limited to what I could throw. I was throwing 87, 89. But I felt effortless, easy, could command the ball.

“There’s no thoughts of, like, ‘Ooh, I still feel anything.’ So that’s a good place to be. Yeah, no, I definitely feel good. I think it’s a buildup now.”

Snell is essentially at the point where most pitchers are when they arrive at camp – meaning that buildup will take five or six weeks from this point.

“Yeah, I’d say like beginning of spring, maybe a little ahead,” Snell agreed. “I mean, I feel like I could throw 95-96 right now. … But they’re taking it slow, being cautious. I appreciate it. It’s tough.”

Snell said the real test won’t come until he faces hitters and sees how his shoulder recovers from that higher intensity. But his goal is to pitch in games in April – a target that seems overly ambitious at this point.

“We’re just a ways away from even really having that conversation,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

“He’s having no pain. The work that he’s put in in the weight room, all that stuff looks great. … And now that we’ve got that behind us, hopefully we can just build up the arm strength.”

Snell made just 11 starts during his first regular season with the Dodgers last year due to the shoulder issues. They have the depth to absorb his absence again at the start of this season. But “we still need him to pitch,” Roberts said.

“We are fortunate with the talent we have in the room, especially on the starting pitching side,” Roberts said. “We do have the luxury of trying to err on the side of caution, as you guys have heard me say for the last six, seven years. And that’s the truth. But we are certainly better when he’s pitching for us.”

COMING/GOING

Shortstop Mookie Betts left camp following Tuesday’s Cactus League game to be with his wife. The couple is anticipating the birth of their third child. Roberts said he expects Betts back in camp on Saturday.

Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto is scheduled to pitch for Team Japan in its World Baseball Classic quarterfinal game against Venezuela on Saturday. According to Roberts, that will be Yamamoto’s last appearance in this WBC. The 2025 World Series MVP is, however, expected to stay with Team Japan until it is eliminated from the competition.

Kiké Hernandez is back in camp after joining Team Puerto Rico for its early pool play games, but he said he will be leaving to join the team in Houston for the quarterfinals. Hernandez hasn’t decided if he will also travel to Miami if Puerto Rico advances.

“We’re starting to move along really rapidly in terms of my rehab stuff and I don’t really want to, when it comes to having to hit batting practice and all that, I don’t want to take away from the guys that are playing (in the WBC),” Hernandez said Thursday. “So I haven’t had that conversation yet with Andrew (Friedman). I only asked permission to go to Houston. So if we win again in Houston he might get another text message asking if I can go along for the ride. But I haven’t decided that yet. We’re going to go one day at a time.”

Hernandez is recovering from left elbow surgery last November and will open the season on the Dodgers’ 60-day injured list. He has progressed to swinging a bat, hitting off a tee and flips but hasn’t taken actual batting practice yet.

LAWSUIT SETTLED

Shohei Ohtani and his agent, Nez Balelo, have reportedly settled a lawsuit brought against them by a real estate developer in Hawaii.

The $240 million lawsuit filed in 2025 alleged Ohtani and Balelo had forced the developer and a real estate broker out of a development project on the Hapuna Coast of Hawaii.

No details of the settlement or the future status of the project were released.

Orange County Register

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Dodgers’ Blake Snell takes step forward in recovery from ‘cranky’ shoulder

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