Dodgers Fans Will Love Blake Snell’s Goals About Pitching a Lot This Year

Blake Snell is ready to get to work after signing a five-year, $182 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers this offseason.

The left-hander is also ready to take on more responsibility with three starters in the rotation coming off season-ending injuries.

“I think I’m a very talented pitcher. I think I’m a workhorse,” Snell said to The Athletic. “I’ve got to go more innings. I’ll get there. I’m not in a sprint to get there. I’m just trying to get better every day.”

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Three Dodgers starters — Shohei Ohtani, Dustin May, and Tony Gonsolin — are recovering from major elbow surgeries. Two others, Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, dealt with significant arm injuries last season. Meanwhile, Roki Sasaki, the other new addition besides Blake Snell, is just 23 and has never pitched more than 129.1 innings in a season in Japan.

Snell has surpassed 130 innings only twice in his MLB career, reaching around 180 innings both times. Despite the limited workload, he won the Cy Young award both seasons — first with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018 and then with the San Diego Padres in 2023.

However, he is expecting to pitch more this season.

“The last four or five years, I’m starting to really figure out how to pitch, how to go deeper, learning a lot, watching a lot of good pitchers that were on my teams,” Snell said, citing the Padres’ Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove and Giants’ Logan Webb and Robbie Ray. “It’s something I want to get better at. Now I’m here with Kershaw. I couldn’t think of someone better to talk to, to learn how to be a better version of yourself.”

Snell has admired Kershaw his entire career and now his locker is next to his. The next step for Snell is to reach the 200 inning threshold.

“I think health and quality starts, those are my goals,” Snell said. “If that’s where it leads, sure. But quality starts is probably my biggest focus. If you have quality starts, you’ll get to 200.”

The math to reach 200 is daunting but Snell’s mindset is what can get him there.

“I came here to pitch as much as possible,” Snell said.

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Photo Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

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