Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Blake Snell was placed on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation, the team announced Sunday. The move is retroactive to April 3.
In his two starts this season, the left-hander has compiled a 2.00 ERA, allowing two earned runs and seven hits in nine innings. However, Snell has also walked eight, indicating that something may not have been right at this early stage of the season.
Snell, 32, threw his regularly scheduled bullpen session between starts. But something appeared to be wrong, as he talked to athletic trainer Thomas Albert and general manager Brandon Gomes afterward, according to the Los Angeles Times’ Jack Harris.
In his past start on April 2 versus the Atlanta Braves, Snell allowed five runs (none earned), five hits and four walks in four innings. He threw 80 pitches, 45 of them strikes.
To take Snell’s place on the roster, the Dodgers recalled right-hander Matt Sauer from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Sauer, 26, registered a 7.71 ERA in 14 appearances with the Kansas City Royals last season, with nine strikeouts, 11 walks and 23 hits allowed in 16 1/3 innings. In his one start for Oklahoma City, he allowed one run and two hits with two strikeouts in three innings.
Snell’s spot in the Dodgers’ rotation comes up Tuesday against the Washington Nationals. Right-hander Landon Knack and left-hander Justin Wrobleski are candidates to start that game.
Snell signed a five-year, $182 million contract with the Dodgers in the offseason, opting out of his contract with the San Francisco Giants that he agreed to after a disappointing first foray into free agency. He finished with a 3.12 ERA in 20 starts with 145 strikeouts in 104 innings. The rate of 12.5 Ks per nine innings was the best of his career.
A two-time Cy Young Award winner (one with the Tampa Bay Rays, the other with the San Diego Padres), Snell has a career 3.18 ERA, 77-58 record and strikeout rate of 11.2 per nine innings.
While signing Snell brings excellence to a pitching staff, it also means injuries can be expected. This will be the 10th time in his 10 MLB seasons that Snell goes on the injured list due to elbow, shoulder, groin and adductor issues. He’s made 30 or more starts only twice during his career and has started 20 or more games five additional times.
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