Los Angeles Dodgers starter Blake Snell logged another quality start Sunday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he isn’t satisfied just yet.
Snell came back from a procedure on his elbow Aug. 11, and has been fantastic in all three of his starts since returning. In his first appearance off of the injured list, Snell allowed just one earned run through six innings while striking out 10 batters.
He only allowed one run in his subsequent outing, striking out five batters through six innings on his way to his first win of the season. The southpaw made his third appearance of the month on Sunday, shutting out the Pirates through six innings with six strikeouts.
Despite his dominant three-game run, though, Snell still expects better from himself.
“There were a couple innings there where you get two quick outs and then a full-count walk,” Snell said. “It’s not acceptable. Especially with [how] I feel good, know I can command the ball. Honestly, it’s lazy. It’s me trying to get strikeouts instead of trying to go seven, eight, nine. So I definitely got to clean that up.”
Snell walked three batters in Sunday’s game, each coming with two outs, though none of them proved costly. He also walked three batters in his last outing, though, so his frustration is understandable. That being said, the left-hander’s last three outings are a vast improvement over his first start of the season, after which he landed on the injured list with loose bodies in his elbow.
Will Blake Snell be in the postseason rotation?
Despite his late return to the rotation, Snell is a clear candidate to stay in the rotation come October.
The Dodgers’ rotation come the postseason will consist of four pitchers, and if Snell continues to post results as he has since his return, he is a lock for a spot.
For the remaining three spots, the Dodgers will likely include Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and one of Shohei Ohtani or Tyler Glasnow. Ohtani and Glasnow are both on their way back from injury, and Ohtani’s status as a two-way player makes him a more likely candidate to start so the Dodgers don’t lose the DH spot when he enters a game.
