Blake Snell exits Dodgers loss early because of

CINCINNATI — The bother began as Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell threw in the Great American Ball Park bullpen before the sport.

“I felt good all day, and then the second-to-last pitch of the bullpen, I threw a slider and then I felt it grab,” Snell said of the groin tightness that ended up taking him out of the Dodgers’ 6-2 loss to the Reds early. “So I was like, ‘Alright, let’s see what we can do.’”

With Snell guiding the ball without driving onerous off his back leg, his velocity was down a tick or two through a 19-pitch first inning. He gave up one hit, a single to Sal Stewart, which he rapidly erased with a profitable pick-off that caught Stewart in an inning-ending run-down.

“I was going to try to get through five [innings],” he said, “but I just knew I didn’t really have a good shot at doing that and remaining healthy.”

In a dialog with supervisor Dave Roberts, pitching coach Mark Prior and head athletic coach Thomas Albert, they all agreed the best course of motion can be to pull Snell from the sport. Right-handed reliever Blake Treinen changed him in the second inning.

With only 10 video games left in the season, it’s unclear when Snell might be prepared to pitch again.

“The next couple days are really going to decide,” Snell said. “But I’d love to throw on my next [scheduled start day]. Either there or a couple days after. But definitely, I want to try to get one more in the regular season.”

The Dodgers’ loss marked Snell’s eighth start of the season. His 2026 debut was delayed by shoulder fatigue. And then after one start, he landed back on the injured listing to bear arthroscopic surgical procedure to take away unfastened our bodies from his left elbow.

Since returning, he hasn’t given up more than one run in a start. Through Wednesday, Snell has a 1.86 ERA. And he’s a key member of the Dodgers’ projected postseason rotation.

“I don’t think anyone can sit here right now and say what’s going to happen in the next week to 10 days,” Roberts said, noting that the group would resolve whether or not to ship him to get imaging after they returned to Los Angeles. “It’s under the, ‘I’m glad it’s not worse and we caught it early’ [category].”

Snell has a historical past of left groin and adductor strains. He spent time on the IL in 2021, 2022 and 2024 for such accidents. He said this injury didn’t really feel practically as extreme as any of those.

“[In the past] I felt like that and then I kept pitching on two of them and strained both of them,” he said. “One was a grade one, one was a grade two. So I’m definitely happy I stopped. … I’m aware if I kept pitching, I definitely would’ve strained it. So for me to stop, that’s a first. Maybe I’m growing up. I don’t know. But that was definitely the right move. And next couple days, we’ll see where we’re at and go from there. But I think I’ll be good to go.”

The last couple years, in an effort to keep away from another groin pressure, Snell has included Copenhagen planks into his routine, strengthening the realm.

“I thought I had this thing figured out,” Snell said. “Well, technically, I still do. I didn’t strain it, so that was a good thing. … I haven’t felt it at all until that pitch in the bullpen, and I was just kind of thrown off by it. So I’ve done what I’ve needed to do to be strong and healthy. Definitely a shock to me.”

After Snell left the sport, the Dodgers used six relievers to get through seven innings. They mixed to give up six runs and 12 hits, including a pair of home runs.

Left-hander Kris Bubic, acquired at the commerce deadline while on the IL (flexor pressure, shoulder impingement), made his Dodgers debut in the eighth inning. In his first major-league look since mid-May, he allowed an infield single and recorded two strikeouts in a scoreless inning.

The Dodgers missed a likelihood to clinch the division with a win. And the Padres beat the Rockies on Wednesday to keep the division race mathematically alive.

So, the Dodgers will get another shot at champagne showers in Cincinnati Wednesday when left-hander Justin Wrobleski takes the mound. The Dodgers optioned right-hander Bobby Miller after his 2 ⅓ innings Wednesday and plan to recall righty Landon Knack, Roberts said.

The Dodgers’ pitching plans for the next couple weeks are in flux.

Though right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto and left-hander Tarik Skubal have been rounding into the best variations of themselves down the stretch, Snell’s injury is the latest to deplete the ranks.

Right-hander Roki Sasaki (proper center finger blister) has been on the IL for virtually three weeks. He threw a four-inning, 48-pitch live batting follow session Wednesday, with Dermabond overlaying the delicate space on his finger.

The Dodgers had deliberate to talk about how to deploy him when he returns from the IL, but after the sport, Roberts said to “make sure guys have ample rest,” his next outing might be a start.

Sasaki can be lined up to pitch against the Padres next week.

“It’s playable,” supervisor Dave Roberts said of Sasaki’s blister. “And given the Dermabond, the time that he’ll have in between this next outing, the hope is that it’s dang near close to being healed.”

Right-hander Tyler Glasnow hit a tough patch in his last two begins but said his back, which sidelined him for three and a half months, “feels good.” The Dodgers despatched him back to Los Angeles after the collection in Miami to cut down on the quantity of flights he’d have to sit on before his scheduled start Friday.

“Get him home, get him acclimated to Pacific Standard Time, not have to do two legs,” Roberts said. “So Tyler feels great. He’ll be ready to go on Friday.”

Roberts reiterated after the sport that he’s “not concerned with Tyler,” who got here out of a bullpen session Wednesday feeling “normal.”

If the Dodgers need another spot start in the next week and a half, they’ve right-hander Emmet Sheehan ready in the wings. They optioned him to triple-A Oklahoma City on Monday, in favor of an additional reliever. But over his last two major-league begins, he’s restricted opponents to one run and 5 hits in 11 ⅔ innings.