Snell's return nears after simulated inning at Dodger Stadium

Blake Snell #7 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field

LOS ANGELES – The Dodgers clubhouse has learned to live with the slow burn of a long season, where April questions don’t always have immediate answers. But on Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, there was something tangible—something closer to clarity—when Blake Snell took a meaningful step forward.

It wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t dominant. And it certainly wasn’t about results.

It was about presence.

“For me personally, It’s just an exercise,” Roberts said pregame on what he was looking for in Snell’s session.

Snell threw a simulated inning at Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium, facing Tommy Edman twice—once from each side of the plate—in a controlled but important environment. 15 pitches. One inning. A small box checked, but a significant one nonetheless.

For a pitcher of Snell’s caliber, the road back isn’t measured purely in radar gun readings or painted corners. Manager Dave Roberts made that clear before the game, emphasizing that Saturday’s session wasn’t about command or velocity. It wasn’t about winning a sequence or fooling a hitter.

It was about feel.

And maybe more importantly, it was about freedom—getting back on a mound, facing a hitter, and letting the body and mind reconnect to the rhythm that makes Snell who he is.

“He's in a good spot,” Roberts said, a simple sentence that carried weight considering the uncertainty that often shadows pitcher recoveries.

The Dodgers aren’t rushing this. They rarely do with arms that matter. The plan is deliberate: see how Snell recovers, build him up to two innings next, then three, and eventually stretch him toward four innings before a likely rehab assignment.

It’s a progression that values sustainability over urgency, even for a team with October expectations baked into its DNA.

But make no mistake—this isn’t abstract anymore. This is real progress.

“I talked to him yesterday a little bit in the dugout,” Roberts said Saturday afternoon. “He’s getting antsy but I think he’s just excited because he feels strong and feels healthy.”

Inside the organization, there’s a growing sense that Snell’s return isn’t just theoretical. Early May is now a reasonable target, not an optimistic guess. And for a rotation that has had to navigate its share of early-season variables, adding a pitcher with Snell’s swing-and-miss arsenal changes the equation.

Not all at once. Not immediately. But meaningfully.

Blake Snell #7 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field on August 02, 2025 in Tampa, Florida.

Robert Sloter - The Sporting Tribune

Blake Snell #7 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field on August 02, 2025 in Tampa, Florida.

There’s also an understated benefit to what Saturday represented: Snell facing a hitter like Edman, who can switch-hit, gave him a different kind of challenge than a standard bullpen. Even in a controlled setting, that variability matters. It sharpens instincts. It tests sequencing. It reintroduces the unpredictability that defines real competition.

And yet, the Dodgers aren’t pretending this was anything more than a step.

A good step, yes. An encouraging one, certainly. But still just one.

The coming days will matter just as much—how Snell’s body responds, how the arm bounces back, how the feel translates when the workload increases. That’s where rehabs are won or lost, in the quiet hours between sessions.