Dodgers' Blake Snell Placed on IL with Shoulder Injury After Bullpen Session

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell has landed on the injured list four days after making his second start of the 2025 season.

The Dodgers announced on Sunday that Snell had been placed on the 15-day IL due to shoulder inflammation. His IL stint is retroactive to April 3, making him eligible to be activated as early as April 18.

Per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times, Snell spoke with team trainer Thomas Albert and general manager Brandon Gomes on Sunday morning after throwing a bullpen session.

There have been some indications through two starts that Snell wasn't quite at the level we are accustomed to seeing from him. His average fastball velocity of 94.8 mph is his lowest since the 2017 season (94.3). It's also down more than one full mile per hour compared to last year (95.9).

Snell has always been a pitcher with a high walk rate, which has continued in the early going this year. He has issued four free passes in each of his first two starts.

The thing that has made Snell so effective despite the walk rate is his ability to miss bats. That hasn't been true so far with just four punchouts in nine innings.

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All stats at this time of the year come with the caveat that it's a small sample size, so there's no sense in trying to draw any big conclusions about anything yet.

Snell had two stints on the IL early last season with the San Francisco Giants due to an adductor strain and groin strain. He was back at full strength in early July and was great for three months, posting a 1.23 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 80.1 innings over 14 starts.

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A shoulder injury is more of a concern for a pitcher than an adductor or groin injury, but there's no indication at this point it's a long-term issue.

The Dodgers intentionally built a deep rotation during the offseason to account for potential pitcher injuries. Matt Sauer, who had a 7.71 ERA in 16.1 innings with the Dodgers last season, was recalled from Triple-A to take Snell's spot on the roster.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Tyler Glasnow and Dustin May are the top four starters in Los Angeles with Snell out of action. The team will need to add another starter when Snell's next turn in the rotation comes up, or they could opt to go with bullpen games for the time being if the two-time Cy Young winner isn't going to miss an extended period.