Blake Snell has spent the last month looking every bit like the kind of pitcher the Dodgers expected when they brought him in, and he still thinks there’s another gear.
The left-hander has made five starts since returning from the injured list after midseason elbow surgery, and the results have been as sharp as they come. In each outing, Snell has gone at least five innings and allowed no more than one earned run. Across those five starts, he has given up just three total runs and piled up 38 strikeouts in 29 innings.
That kind of stretch would usually be enough for most pitchers to feel pretty satisfied. Not Snell.
After his most recent outing against the Washington Nationals, when he worked six shutout innings and struck out seven, the two-time Cy Young winner said he still isn’t where he wants to be.
“I think I can be way better,” Snell said to reporters. “I think it’s going good because just pitching in this league so much, I understand hitters, and I’m starting to adjust quicker, which I’m getting excited about.
I go out there with a plan and being able to adjust and get quick outs off of that, or get ahead to get strikeouts. It’s starting to get quicker, which I’m extremely happy about."
He doubled down on that thought, making it clear he sees plenty of room to clean things up.
“I’m happy about that, but I just think I could be way better. I really do," he said.
"I can locate the fastball in, out, up, down. I think I could do that better.
Right now, I’m just missing. I’m around the zone, but just missing.
I think I could be even better.”
For a pitcher already carving through lineups like this, the idea of a sharper version is a tough one for the rest of MLB to stomach.
Snell’s next chance to keep rolling comes Friday, when the Dodgers open their series against the Miami Marlins.
This has been another stop-and-start season for Snell in Los Angeles. He’s in his second season with the Dodgers, but outside of these five straight starts, he made just one other start this year, back in May.
Since signing with the Dodgers as a free agent before the 2025 season, Snell has made 17 regular season starts. In those outings, he has gone 8-5 with a 2.22 ERA, 115 strikeouts and a 1.20 WHIP across 93.1 innings.
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