The Dodgers ultimately had to rush with Blake Snell‘s return from the IL. He last played in the 2025 World Series Game 7, and since then, he has been sidelined with left shoulder fatigue. After missing the first 38 games of this season, Snell was about to return with only his final rehab game left. However, the sudden injury to Tyler Glasnow forced the Dodgers to activate Snell sooner than expected.
Snell’s 2026 debut against the Braves on Saturday didn’t go as expected, and he had accepted the reality.
“A lot of my injuries have been inflammation-based, I’m getting older, I gotta be a little wiser,” Snell said. “I got a nutritionist, a chef, and pilates has helped me a lot.”
Snell is 33, and baseball science says pitchers tend to face regression in their 30s. Yes, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander could be the exception, but current stats are far lower than their prime. For Scherzer, he can no longer reach 98-99 mph regularly. For Verlander, his current 93 mph average represents a 2–3 mph drop from his peak.
Blake Snell talks about what’s changed from last year to this year. Last year he didn’t do Pilates, but now Pilates is helping him feel great on the mound.
“A lot of my injuries have been inflammation based, I’m getting older, I gotta be a little more wiser,” Snell said. “I got… pic.twitter.com/C0X1nJNSMP
— Fredo Cervantes (@FredoCervantes) May 10, 2026
On Saturday, Snell gave up 5 runs along with two walks from his 3 innings, and he secured 5 SOs. The Dodgers planned to keep Snell within 5 innings and 75 pitches, but credit to the Braves’ lineup that Snell ended up throwing 77 pitches. “Learned a lot,” Snell said after the game. “Obviously, frustrated. The goal is to give up no runs, so giving up five is frustrating.”
Maybe Snell would take some time to get back his rhythm, but according to Snell, the reasons could be his injury history and age.
His inflammation-based injuries are no new. Last year, Snell was placed on the 15-day IL due to the same left shoulder inflammation. On the other hand, age is a determining factor for the pitchers. After age 30, the average pitcher loses roughly 0.5 WAR. Every additional year of age increases the odds of injury by about 11%. Older arms heal more slowly from recurring issues like the inflammation seen with Blake Snell.
However, Snell is doing Pilates to keep a check on his regression. He averaged 95.9 mph with his fastball, up from 95.1 mph last year, which proves that his strategy is working. Unlike traditional crunches, Pilates activates deep stabilizers like the transverse abdominis, which protects the lower back during high-velocity rotation.
Aging is a reality, and Blake Snell might not look as ferocious as earlier. And even if yes, Snell needs to be wiser with his body.
Snell gave up 5 runs, but still hinted at his dominance. He reportedly gave up only two hard-hit balls in play. Moreover, Snell missed bats. He generated 16 whiffs on Saturday. With this, he joined the Phillies’ Jesús Luzardo as the second pitcher this season to generate that much swing-and-miss in an outing of three innings or fewer.
The Braves’ starter caught all the limelight in Blake Snell’s bobblehead night
Saturday was the Dodgers’ Blake Snell bobblehead night. Snell blamed the smaller strike zone for his rough 2026 debut. The challenge system has generally created a smaller strike zone compared to the zone typically called by human umpires in previous years. “Got to use the fastball a little more; the zone is smaller than it was last year, that’s what I learned today. I was missing a little bit. But I feel really good, the stuff is really good,” Snell added.
Yet a 27-year-old starter of the Braves made the night on his name. Spencer Strider pitched 6 innings and secured 8 SOs, without allowing a run. His effort saw the fireballing righty back at peak form for the first time in a while, as he overpowered the Dodgers’ bats throughout his six frames. Something similar to what the Dodgers fans expected from Blake Snell.
“Everybody wearing this uniform today wanted to go out and give Braves fans something to be happy about,” Strider said after the game.
The fans would now wait for the next start of Snell. For example, Snell spent four months on the IL in 2025 with left shoulder fatigue in his first year with the Dodgers. Yet on his return in August, he threw 5 innings with 8 strikeouts in his first start back. So, Dave Roberts, along with the fans, is hoping to check Snell in his next starts.
Snell’s dominance may just be a game away, despite acknowledging the reality.
