Blake Snell gets Opening Day nod

(News4usOnline) – There was no need for the Dodgers to add a 31-year-old two-time Cy Young Award winner to their roster, but nonetheless, Blake Snell now wears Dodger blue.

Los Angeles inked the former Giants and Padres starting pitcher to a 5-year, $182 million deal in the offseason, snagging him away from their rival NL West teams.

On Sunday, Dave Roberts named Snell the starter for their Opening Day game at Dodgers Stadium against reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and the Detroit Tigers.

Your 2025 #OpeningDayLA starter, Blake Snell! pic.twitter.com/INFAPRiMhl

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 23, 2025

“I think that if you look at Major League Baseball starting pitching, in anyone’s math or opinion, those are two of the top five pitchers in all of baseball. Having those two south paws going against one another will be fun,” said Roberts. “Blake chose to be a Dodger for various reasons, and for him to start a home opener here at Dodgers Stadium is something else he can add to his already great career.”

Snell came to Los Angeles for the same reason Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernandez joined the team last year. Veteran players want to compete for championships, something Snell was close to achieving as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays. In the 2020 World Series, he struck out 18 batters across 10 innings, giving up only three runs in two starts against the eventual-champion Dodgers, and he has caused them headaches ever since.

The front office probably wanted to keep Snell out of a competitor’s clubhouse just as badly as they wanted him in theirs. He has been a Dodger-killer, with a 2.62 ERA and 86 strikeouts in 14 career games against them. Not having to face him for at least the next five years is already a massive win, and that is before taking into account what he adds to the rotation.

“I am beyond excited. The first two games we played, we didn’t even have Mookie or Freddie, so that made me even more excited. We can hit from top to bottom; even the guys who don’t get much playing time can hit,” said Snell. “I can’t wait to feel the atmosphere. I have felt it on the other side, so I can’t wait to feel what it is like to be a Dodger.”

Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Roki Sasaki are the other four players who project out to be long-term starters for the franchise, and all of them are right-handed pitchers, making the left-handed Snell the perfect addition to the rotation. He has some of the best stuff in all of baseball, making him almost impossible to hit when he is locked in.

#ITFDB pic.twitter.com/ob62O508gX

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 9, 2025

Snell will have the benefit of pitching for a team that will not ask him to go deep into games or pitch on short rest. They have one of the deepest and most talented bullpens in the league and an abundance of quality starting pitchers waiting their turn in line.

The one knock on Snell during his career is that he notoriously does not go deep into ballgames. He is at his best when he pitches five innings and then gets out after going through the lineup twice. He will not need to be a massive innings eater with this group. All they want out of him is five quality innings every fifth or sixth day, and they will be more than satisfied.

“There is a lot of learning that is going to go on in the next couple of months before I will really get comfortable. I have to learn what it is like to be on this team when it is just us playing full big-league games. The first two months will be a lot of just learning, and then from there, getting better and growing and understanding what it is like to throw the ball to Will and Barnes,” said Snell.

Once he is acclimated to the team, we could get the best version of Blake Snell we have ever seen. He is hungry, and the talent and circumstances are just right. Everything is lining up for him to have a fantastic year.

Feature image: SAN FRANCISCO, CA – AUGUST 12: San Francisco Giants P Blake Snell (7) throws to start the game between the Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants on August 12, 2024 at Oracle Park in San Francisco, CA. (Photo by Larry Placido/Icon Sportswire)