Los Angeles Dodgers left-handed pitcher Blake Snell was forced to exit his start on Wednesday against the Cincinnati Reds after just one inning due to left groin tightness.
Snell pitched a scoreless first inning with one strikeout, but saw a decrease in his average velocity. After the inning, he went into the dugout and walked straight down to the clubhouse in an ominous scene.
After the game, he told reporters that he felt his groin “grab” in his pregame bullpen and felt it would be better to not push it. However, he said he “should be good” to make another start next week.
That will likely be his final start before the end of the regular season.
“I felt good all day, and then the second-to-last pitch of the bullpen, I threw a slider and then I felt it grab,” Snell said. “So I was like, ‘Alright, let’s see what we can do.’ Threw one more pitch and then went down to the dugout.
“And then I was warming up and I was like, ‘Ah, it doesn’t feel that great. We’ll see what we can get through.’ And then I was just talking with myself throughout that first inning. I was gonna try to get through five, but I just knew I didn’t really have a good shot at doing that and remaining healthy.”
Blake Snell’s Injury-Riddled Dodgers Tenure
Snell joined the Dodgers on a five-year, $182 million deal ahead of the 2025 season. After just two starts last year, he went on the injured list with a shoulder injury, and ended up missing four months.
Snell returned to make nine starts in the regular season and pitched another 34 innings in the postseason.
Then, he opened the 2026 season on the IL due to lingering shoulder inflammation from the prior campaign.
Snell was activated off the IL in May and made one start before going back on the shelf and undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow. He ended up missing another three months before returning in August.
Across his six starts since returning entering Wednesday’s game, Snell was 4-0 with a 1.04 ERA and 46 strikeouts over 34.2 innings.
He helped make up arguably the most fearsome top three in the rotation in MLB alongside Tarik Skubal and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Blake Snell’s Groin Injury History
A groin injury isn’t anything new for Snell.
The left-hander has dealt with groin tightness multiple times throughout his 11-year career, spending time on the injured list in 2021, 2022 and 2024 due to the ailment.
This time around, however, it appears to be less severe.
“I’ve strained it four different times,” Snell said after the game. “So I’m aware if I kept pitching, I definitely would’ve strained it. So for me to stop, that’s a first. Maybe I’m growing up. I don’t know. But that was definitely the right move. And next couple days, we’ll see where we’re at and go from there.”
The Dodgers will still closely monitor the injury, and ensure that Snell improves through the end of the week in time to make another start next week.
Assuming he comes out of that start well, he should be ready to go for the postseason.
When Do the Dodgers Start the Playoffs?
The Dodgers are currently competing for a top-two spot in the National League which would come with a first-round bye.
If they earn a top-two seed, they’ll begin the NL Division Series on Oct. 3. If they fall to the No. 3 seed, they’ll begin the wild-card series on Sept. 29, two days after the final day of the regular season.
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