The Los Angeles Dodgers are about two veterans back as they start to get on the road to recovery and work their way back.
According to The Athletic’s Katie Woo, Blake Snell starts his rehab assignment on Saturday with a start while playing with the Oklahoma City Comets at the Triple-A level.
Additionally, Kike Hernandez starts his own assignment today, July 17th, with the Comets as well.
Hernandez and Snell both started the season on the injured list, missed a handful of months, quickly got reinjured, and have been on the shelf since then.
How Blake Snell’s recovery has gone
Snell was recovering from shoulder soreness to start the year, looking to avoid any serious injury. He ramped up slowly; however, when he came back, he had an elbow injury.
His injury was similar to what a few pitchers suffered recently — loose bodies in his elbow. He underwent a two-and-a-half-hour surgery that left Snell feeling better than ever.
“Probably the best I’ve felt in two years,” he said. “I’m pain-free. I always had some form of pain, but you just battle through it. I thought it was just going to be there forever.
“I was, ‘Alright, it’s something I’m just going to have to deal with. I’ll battle through it.’ Then I had the surgery and as soon as I started throwing again I was, ‘Hey, my shoulder feels good.” I was in great spirits, just real happy.
“I have no more pain in my arm. I throw freely. My body feels great. I can locate a pitch where I want too now. That’s pretty cool. All the time now, not just once in awhile.”
Kike Hernandez’s health status
Hernandez suffered an oblique tear during his first rehab assignment of the season, though he tried to play through it. After just two major league games, he went back on the IL.
Despite the tear being “significant,” Hernandez has healed quite quickly and has been doing drills and hitting for days now, with manager Dave Roberts being impressed with his healing process.
“Honestly, he looks normal,” Roberts said. “It’s really, I don’t want to say miraculous, but I’m really in disbelief how well he’s responded, given the injury. … Swinging, throwing, everything.
“There’s no compensation or feeling it. Certainly a quick healer. He’s working hard to get back.”
While the Dodgers don’t need either Snell or Hernandez to succeed in the regular season, as is evident from how well they have coped without them, both players will need to get back into the major league rhythm to function at their best come October.
