The Dodgers are getting Blake Snell back at just the right time.
Los Angeles officially reinstated the left-hander from the 60-day injured list, and he’ll take the ball tonight against the Royals. Kansas City is going with Michael Wacha in Game 2 of the series. To clear space on the pitching staff, the Dodgers optioned lefty Charlie Barnes to Triple-A Oklahoma City and transferred Blake Treinen to the 60-day injured list as part of the required 40-man roster move.
Snell’s return comes after a three-month absence, and his season has been stop-start from the beginning. Injuries have limited the two-time Cy Young winner to one start and three innings this year.
He was held back this spring by shoulder fatigue that dated to the 2025 postseason, and the Dodgers took their time bringing him along. His season debut didn’t come until six weeks into the year, and after one start he was right back on the injured list, this time with an elbow problem.
Further testing showed loose bodies that needed to be removed surgically. Snell chose the NanoNeedle procedure that now-teammate Tarik Skubal had tried a couple weeks earlier.
Skubal’s recovery moved fast after that, with the Tigers getting him back on the roster within six weeks. Snell’s path has been closer to what you’d expect from a standard arthroscopic surgery.
Los Angeles had more reason to be patient than Detroit did with Skubal. The Dodgers are already in comfortable position for a playoff berth, and the bigger goal is having Snell right for October.
That matters even more with this being his third straight injury-shortened season. He threw 95 1/3 innings across the regular season and postseason last year, and the Dodgers are clearly thinking long view here.
Still, they’ll be glad to have him back during their roughest stretch of the season. The club has dropped seven straight and is 2-7 since the start of August.
The NL West lead remains intact, but the Dodgers are currently behind Milwaukee and tied with Atlanta at the top of the National League. Finishing as one of the top two seeds carries obvious value, since it would let them skip the first round.
And even with the Dodgers favored over a Wild Card opponent, a short series always leaves room for trouble.
Snell started a rehab assignment shortly after the All-Star Break and made four minor league starts. His most recent outing, against the Angels’ Triple-A club, wasn’t his sharpest, but he still got in 73 pitches and is lined up to work on six days’ rest tonight.
With Snell back, manager Dave Roberts said the Dodgers plan to go with a six-man rotation. Eric Lauer will keep his spot for at least one more turn behind Skubal, Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Justin Wrobleski and Roki Sasaki.
That arrangement won’t last forever, though. Tyler Glasnow is expected to force a change once he returns from the back issue that has kept him out for the last three months.
Shohei Ohtani has been shut down as a pitcher because of a left knee concern, but the Dodgers still say he’ll pitch again this season.
Treinen’s move to the 60-day injured list is purely procedural, since the minimum time is backdated to his June 20 placement. He’ll be eligible to return in a week, though that doesn’t mean he’ll be ready. The veteran reliever has not started a rehab assignment yet and is still dealing with elbow inflammation.
In Other News...
Dodgers Quietly Made A Roster Move As October Focus Starts Showing
The Dodgers have quietly started doing the kind of roster housekeeping that comes with an organization already thinking a step ahead. Five minor league players were released to open space for the clubs 2026 draft class, a small but telling move that speaks to how Los Angeles keeps one eye on the present and another on the pipeline. For a team built to contend deep into October, these are the behind-the-scenes decisions that rarely draw much attention outside the front office, even though they help shape what comes next.
At the same time, the rotation continues to settle into the spotlight in a place where every outing feels a little bigger. Tarik Skubal recently spoke about being more nervous than usual in his Dodger Stadium home debut, a start in which he went five innings and struck out six in a win. For the Dodgers, that mix of roster churn and postseason-adjacent pressure is part of the late-season backdrop now, with the bigger picture still taking shape in plain sight. [Read more 🡒]
Tyler Glasnow Has More Than One Reason This Return Feels Different
Tyler Glasnows return has been creeping closer for weeks, and the Dodgers can feel the rotation help coming. Since going down with a lower back injury in early May and landing on the 60-day injured list, he has been working through a rehab assignment that has him nearing a return, which is welcome timing for a club that has had to keep piecing things together while waiting for one of its bigger arms to get back on the mound.
The comeback has also taken on a more personal tone for Glasnow, who is dealing with more than just the baseball side of the rehab process. Along with the ramp-up toward rejoining the Dodgers, he and his wife Meghan Murphy are preparing for their first child, adding a separate layer of significance to a stretch that already feels different than a routine injury return. [Read more 🡒]
Dave Roberts Sent The Message Dodgers Fans Needed To Hear
After a rough loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, Freddie Freeman offered a steadying voice for a Dodgers club that has had to answer a few too many questions lately. In the middle of a stretch where the offense has not always looked like itself, the message from inside the clubhouse was less about panic and more about belief, with Freeman pointing to the talent still in place and the expectation that the group will sort itself out.
Dave Roberts followed with the part fans usually want to hear most when the results have been uneven: the Dodgers need to move with urgency and get better. There was a quick response on the field, too, as Los Angeles beat Arizona in the next game and showed signs of more life at the plate, a small but meaningful step for a team trying to stabilize its rhythm before the next skid has a chance to linger. [Read more 🡒]