There is no better time for Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell to step onto the mound. The two-time Cy Young winner will skip his final rehab assignment and make his season debut Saturday night against the visiting Atlanta Braves.
Snell hasn’t pitched since recording four outs in Game 7 of the World Series on Nov. 1, when the Dodgers clinched their second consecutive title with a victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Shoulder inflammation sidelined him for four months last season and delayed his start to the 2026 campaign by another month-plus.
“We tried to figure out if he was open to taking those five innings here instead of on rehab, and he couldn’t be more excited to do that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Snell’s return coincides with the Dodgers placing right-hander Tyler Glasnow on the 15-day injured list Friday due to lower back spasms.
In five career starts against the Braves, Snell is 0-2 with a 2.49 ERA. His most recent outing came last season when he allowed five unearned runs over four innings in a no-decision.
After a 3-3 road trip to St. Louis and Houston, the Dodgers opened a seven-game homestand Friday with a 3-1 comeback win over Atlanta. Shohei Ohtani tied the game with an RBI single in the fifth inning, and Freddie Freeman ended a month-long home run drought with a solo shot to center in the sixth against his former team. Freeman now has 100 home runs in five seasons with the Dodgers since leaving the Braves after the 2021 season.
“They’ve been playing really good baseball, and we obviously put together a really quality game,” Freeman said.
May 6, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell prior to the game against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images
In the middle game of the series, the Braves will send right-hander Spencer Strider (0-0, 8.10 ERA) to the mound for his second start of the season. In his 2026 debut Sunday against the Colorado Rockies, Strider allowed three runs on four hits over 3 1/3 innings with five walks and six strikeouts in an 11-6 victory. He had been sidelined since the season opener with a left oblique strain.
“I’d rather be pitching than hurt, for sure, but I don’t want a participation trophy,” Strider said. “I’m here to help the team win games. I’m getting paid a ridiculous amount of money to do it (six-year contract worth $75 million), and if I can’t, then that’s a problem. So let’s find a way to be more effective. I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Strider is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in three career starts against the Dodgers but hasn’t faced them since 2023. In his lone start at Los Angeles in August 2023, he allowed four runs on four hits with nine strikeouts in six innings while earning the win.
The Braves scored their lone run Friday on an Austin Riley single in the second inning. They managed just three hits in 4 1/3 scoreless innings against five Dodgers relievers and went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
Atlanta arrived in Los Angeles after losing a series for the first time this season, dropping two of three games at Seattle. The Braves’ current two-game losing streak is their second-longest skid this season, behind a three-game streak from April 4-6.
