Why the Dodgers don’t need to panic after Blake Snell surgery news

When news broke that the Los Angeles Dodgers were scratching Blake Snell mere hours before his expected start against the Los Angeles Angels, fans began to fear the worst.

Immediately placed on IL with an arm injury, Snell was diagnosed with loose bodies in his elbow, and after some consideration, opted to have surgery to correct the issue, which will keep him out of action indefinitely. Snell may be able to return before the end of the 2026 MLB season, but for now, it looks like the Dodgers will have to go on without the two-time Cy Young winner in their lineup, which, for most teams, would be a massive bummer.

Fortunately, the Dodgers aren’t most teams, and even with two pitchers on IL with loose bodies in their elbow plus another marquee name in Tyler Glasnow, also out of action, LA still has enough starting pitching depth to hold things down in the regular season without necessarily having to alter their current pitching timeline too severely.

The Dodgers can hold things down until Blake Snell returns

When Glasnow landed on IL, the Dodgers had the perfect replacement ready to take his spot in the six-man rotation in Snell, who joined a unit that also features World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Emmet Sheehan, Roki Sasaki, and Justin Wrobleski, who has arguably been the most pleasant surprise of the season so far with his 2.42 ERA.

With Snell now heading to IL, the Dodgers could still stick to a six-man rotation, but for the time being, they may simply opt to go with five pitchers thanks to how things have shaken out from a scheduling standpoint.

With Wrobleski earning the nod in Game 2 against the Angels, the Dodgers will likely start Sasaki, Yamamoto, Ohtani, and then Sheehan before next Thursday’s day off, with that rotation repeating starting next Friday unless Glasnow is able to return from his current stint on IL. Each pitcher will maintain six days between starts, and no one would have to speed up their process thanks to the travel day.  The Dodgers could instead call up River Ryan to maintain their current six-man rotation, who showed out during the preseason, but he is recovering from an injury of his own, but Dave Roberts noted that there is a “slim possibility” he could be back in the short-term, according to the California Post’s Jack Harris. 

If the Dodgers feel comfortable that either Glasnow or Ryan is ready to play by May 27 when they finish up their home series against the Rockies, then they would be able to keep the six man rotation going starting against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, May 29 but if neither player simply isn’t ready to go, the team could opt to throw a bullpen game against Colorado since the following day has no game and kick the rotational squeeze day back to June 3.

Either way, the Dodgers still have depth for days and should be able to hold things down until they have one more arm ready to go, whoever that may be.

While much has been said about the Dodgers’ excessive spending, with Snell, Kyle Tucker, Edwin Diaz, and beyond all drawing ire for choosing LA over their former teams, the reason LA can stomach extended absences by the latter two is because of how well they have developed young players through their farm system, with Sheehan, Wrobo, Andy Pages, Dalton Rushing and Will Smith never playing for another organization during their professional careers. If the Dodgers’ rotation suffers another injury, they might be in trouble, but for now, Roberts’ squad should be able to coast through May without having to change their pitching plan up too much.

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