Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spoke to reporters, including Jack Harris of the California Post, and provided some updates about the players on the roster and their health or lack thereof. Perhaps most notably, the skipper said left-hander Blake Snell is making a bit of progress in his ramp-up but is probably running out of time to be ready for Opening Day.
The Dodgers won the World Series a few months ago but did so with a lopsided pitching staff. The bullpen was fairly shaky, so they leaned hard on their starters, even using them in relief. Snell tossed five innings in the first game of the World Series, 6 2/3 in the fifth game, then an inning and a third out of the bullpen in the seventh game. In January, Snell admitted that he was exhausted by the end of the series.
He and the club are planning for a deliberate buildup here in camp, focused more on the long term than Opening Day. That’s a luxury the Dodgers can afford since the roster is so strong that they can downplay the importance of regular season games, making sure their players are focused on being healthy in October. With this approach in mind, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was the only pitcher on the roster to throw at least 113 innings last year.
There’s no real reason for Snell and the Dodgers to push for him to be ready for Opening Day. The rotation should still be strong even without him in it. Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Emmet Sheehan should have four spots locked. Roki Sasaki will likely take the fifth. Guys like River Ryan, Ben Casparius, Justin Wrobleski, Kyle Hurt, Gavin Stone or Landon Knack could step up to make starts, if needed.
Turning to the bullpen, Roberts also said right-hander Brusdar Graterol is in a “holding pattern” and has not thrown off a mound lately. It was already known that he wouldn’t be ready for Opening Day but it’s notable that he’s still not making much progress.
Graterol was a key piece of the Dodger bullpen from 2020 to 2023, posting a 2.69 earned run average over 173 2/3 innings, but has hardly thrown for the past two years. Shoulder problems and a hamstring strain capped him at seven outings in 2024. Surgery on that shoulder wiped out his 2025 and it seems he’s still not fully over the hump. Similar to the Snell situation, the Dodgers can afford to not rush him and let him get to full health, but it would be encouraging to see some progress.
Roberts also noted that right-hander Bobby Miller has not yet thrown off a mound this spring due to some unspecified arm/shoulder issue. He is hoping to ramp up in the next few weeks but that is presumably contingent on the issue subsiding.
Miller is a wild card on the roster. He seemed to break out in 2023, making his major league debut with a 3.76 ERA in 124 1/3 innings. But he posted an ugly 8.52 ERA in 2024 and then spent most of 2025 on optional assignment with a 5.66 ERA in Triple-A. He was moved from the rotation to the bullpen in July but his results didn’t improve, with a 5.91 ERA after that switch. He struck out 28.6% of batters faced in that relief role but also gave out walks at a big 13.2% clip. He still has a couple of options, so the Dodgers can keep tinkering with him in the minors as long as they continue to deem him worthy of a spot on the 40-man.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
We like sports and we don’t care who knows!
You’re trippin’
Play it, Sax Man!
Are we talking Tiny ‘Boop Squig’ Shorterly or Roy Donk?
Snell has found a way to avoid the April-early May swoon – just be on the IL “ramping up” instead of on the mound during games being beaten up.
It should work for him. He and Glasnow staying at 100 innings for regular season might be a good recipe. Now if only some of the other 29 teams could afford to pay top dollar for 100 innings / year!
@Long
Other teams can afford to do this strategy but they are too cheap to do so. Also, a lot of the Dodgers SP depth are cheap guys developed from within the organization – Stone, River Ryan, Hurt, Casparius, and maybe even Bobby Miller. Even if other teams tried this strategy they wouldn’t do it as well as the Dodgers do. Just like if there was a salary cap, Friedman proved in TB that he can still build a winner with restrictions
Other teams can afford to pay a guy $30M for 60 innings?
28 million for 94 innings!
36 million for 0 innings
The Padres are about to be sold for close 3 billion dollars. But there are owners like Arte Moreno, who feel that winning isn’t even a top 5 priority of their fan base. Moreno paid 180 million for his team, and if the Padres can sell for 3 billion, what are the Angels worth? 4? 5?
“For me, I’ve always wanted to win. It’s just, what’s the cost of winning right now?”
He doesn’t care about winning. And that’s the problem with MLB right now, is that aren’t a lot of owners that do. So yes, other teams can afford to pay 30 million for a pitcher, they just don’t want to, and don’t prioritize winning.
@derail76
100% accurate
Revenue and net worth are two different things.
If I have a house worth $500,000 but my only income is social security, which barely covers food and utilities, what do I have to do if I need to buy a reliable car?
The only solution is to borrow against your equity (which some teams do). However, that opens yourself up to other issues, including interest rate risk, or a possible drop in value of your pledged asset.
The Dodgers, on the other hand, are like someone who owns a home worth $2M but also has income of $250K a year on top of that. If they need a new car, they can just go buy one without a second thought.
Big difference.
No dude. Apples to oranges. The Marlins, Rockies, White Sox and all these other bottom feeding teams in your situation are in far better position than yours. It’s like they’re living in 2 billion dollar homes and not being able to pay a pitcher 30 million is akin to not being able to pay their Edison bill.
You’re not getting it.
Wealth and income are not the same thing.
No other teams can most definitely not afford to have 2 and a half starting staffs ready to go.
I love that the Dodgers loaded up in the off-season. If they win again, it will be expected. If they lose, it will be a colossal failure. All 29 other teams will do whatever they can to push the Dodgers to the latter of the two.
Uh, okay.
Tomorrow, water is wet.
Gosh! You are so assertive.
Colossal failure? They have won back to back championships! They have achieved the goal. They are just trying to maintain it now.
Oh, dents in the armor?
Armor? That’s just my skin.
Snell will no doubt be ready for the season start on July 17th. He’s somehow made it work.
Rumor has it he gave himself carpal tunnel feeding an egg eggs on a desktop computer.
That one egg was 40 eggs?
*watches itysl once*
Paul Bufano! Paul Bufano!
Joe DiMaggio was on the Colgate Comedy Hour
Carl Pavano, how hard is that?!
Carl Pavano! Carl Pavano!
*watches itysl so often wife just shakes her head*
Your family hates you, only I love you!
He will be ready when a spot is open in the rotation(when one of the other starters needs a rest)
When your team doesn’t play in the post season it’s a lot easier to be ready in April.
It’s a good thing then that my team does! Go team!
River Ryan will surpass Sasaki in that rotation.
A lot will depend on if Sasaki can get his control back in order.
Ryan is looking great, but might be used for bulk innings and spot starter. Then again you can say that for about 5 guys lol.
Gavin Stone.
If Gavin is Gavin again, he’ll snatch that sixth rotation spot from Sasaki. And Sasaki will either get sent down or become a bullpen weapon while the Dodgers staff works on his pitch mix and control.
Stone is a stud as well. Looked sharp in his 1 inning the other day
No jokes about Snell deferring the start of his season?
Snell pulls some crap every year.
That crap is two CYAs, a WS ring, and $144M with more coming. Sign me up!
How is it that with players deliberately not being ready to start the season, are they manipulating the Injured List?
Is this cheating?
@UKPhil…..It might be considered cheating IF you’re a child who does not know the difference between $)!t and shinola.
I don’t think you get to be on IL “because you aren’t ready”. There has to be an injury that caused the player not to he ready.
So, wondering how they figure it out.
Understand the NBA fines teams for resting star players.
I do think the mlb should implement a rule that a 3rd independent party should evaluate injuries to big name players just to avoid any speculation teams are abusing the injury list
Same way the NFL has an independent neurologist on hand for concussions and can pull a player out if they suspect they sustained a concussion
MLB employs a Medical Director – Dr. Gary Green – who is suppose to review medical reports upon player IL placements. He’s got a pretty extensive resume and has been with MLB since 2010.
“MLB employs”
“Independent”
@Dropped this sounds good in theory but isn’t workable in practice, if a pitcher says he is feeling pain what are you gonna do? Call him a liar? If you forced a guy to pitch and his elbow blew there would be hell to pay.
Ultimately there is no perfect system for injuries, if a pitcher says he is hurting we are kinda forced to take his word on it.
If hes feeling pain and there’s no underlying reason for said pain id assume an independent doctor would put him on medical leave until a reason could be found for the pain as playing rehabbing could worsen the issue.
You’re arguing the Derek Rose saga. He was fully recovered from his acl injury but actively refused to participate in certain rehab processes and games despite being medically cleared.
If he’s experiencing unknown unexplained pain that disqualifies him from performing and is healthy in 7 days that’s a bit fishy and should be investigated
Like I said independent of team and mlb a doctor should be consulted before placement and removal from the list and if any of the 3 (team mlb independent) don’t sign off it doesn’t happen
Patriot, for sake of agreeing with you, if a pitcher reports pain then What are you going to do.
My question: when has either Snell or LA reported that he was feeling pain?
He reported in January that he was exhausted at the bd of the WS – 3 months prior, surely wasn’t still exhausted in January.
The report is they plan to slow roll him because they have a plethora of options and don’t need to rush him – give him less work load over the season.
Ok – that is a fair plan.
But where is the freaking injury that allows them to use the IL?
He isn’t ready / slowly ramping up / intentionally delaying his stert of the season – not an injury and has never been one reported to cause this delay.
It isn’t like he had surgery 3 months ago and he just is behind schedule.
This intentional delay – which is ok by itself – but doesn’t get him an IL spot.
If it cheating if your non playoff pitcher isn’t ready to throw in October?
The injury list has long been abused
Former Mets GM Billy Eppler was put on the mlbs ineligible list for abusing the injury list by placing healthy players on it to manipulate roster spots and avoid exposing players to waivers
The Dodgers themselves were caught misusing the disabled list before it was changed. The Dodgers were noted in 2017 for utilizing the 10-day rule to manage pitching staff and roster flexibility.
If we are here at yet another “are they abusing the system” it’s time the mlb steps in and sets up protocols to help alleviate suspicions and concerns. One such way is using independent doctors to allow placement and removal
The Dodgers didn’t cheat. They used the system to make it work for them. If other teams were smarter, they would have done the same thing. Just like they are not cheating by deferring large chunks of players’ salaries.
Misusing a rule / abusing a rule beyond its intended purposes isn’t cheating but exploiting loopholes are still punishable if you do so knowingly and willingly.
In fact Dodgers constantly misusing the disabled list led towards renaming it the injured list since players they put on said list were in fact not disabled due to injury. Renaming it injury list allowed for a broader array of reasons to place players on said list.
So when the league literally has to jump in, amend something because of constant misuse by Dodgers and others yeah that’s a problem no matter how much you try to deny such.
Come on, BallFour. Do a little research before making such assertions. The change to IL had nothing to do with the Dodgers.
From ESPN: “MLB changed the “Disabled List” (DL) to the “Injured List” (IL) before the 2019 season to avoid conflating temporary sports injuries with permanent disabilities. The change was driven by feedback from disability advocacy groups, as the old term created a misconception that disabled people cannot participate in sports.”
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ frequent, strategic use of the 10-day injured list (IL)—often to rest players or manage minor ailments—contributed to MLB renaming the “Disabled List” to the “Injured List” (effective 2019) and refining roster rules. The team used the, then new, 10-day IL to frequently shuffle players, leading to league-wide discussions on preventing manipulation. – abc news
No the dodgers and other teams putting people on the “disabled list” who were in fact not disabled (incapable of doing their job, injury preventing them from performing) led to the league changing the name to allow teams a broader reason to put players on said list. That is indeed fact.
“Teams putting players on disabled list for soreness fatigue isn’t a disability and led changing the name after misusing the intended purposes of a disabled list, guys unable to perform have time to rest).” Yeahs that’s exactly what happened man. Sorry to burst your bubble
The most widely reported official explanation came through MLB’s communications office and was quoted in multiple outlets. MLB stated that the change was made because
“falsely conflates disabilities with injuries and an inability to participate in sports.”
Sporting News
This is the closest thing to an official MLB quote explaining why the DL was renamed. It is explicitly about language clarity and disability‑advocacy concerns, not about roster manipulation.
Another sourced explanation (reported by CBS Sports summarizing MLB’s position) notes that the change came:
“out of concern that there’s a connotation”
CBS Sports
Again, this refers to the connotation of the word “disabled”, not to any team’s behavior.
A third source, citing MLB’s agreement with advocacy groups, states:
MLB changed the name “following a successful effort from disability advocacy groups,” because the term “disabled list” was “criticized for being inaccurate.”
sportslawblo…
These are the only documented, attributable explanations from MLB or MLB‑authorized communications.
What MLB did not say:
There is no official MLB quote—from the Commissioner, the Competition Committee, the MLBPA, or league spokespeople—stating or even implying that:
• The Dodgers’ aggressive DL usage
• Any team’s roster manipulation
• The 10‑day DL loophole
• Competitive balance concerns
…had anything to do with the name change.
Those issues did lead to later rule changes (e.g., the 15‑day IL for pitchers), but MLB has never connected them to the renaming.
Why people sometimes assume the Dodgers were involved:
Because the Dodgers were the most visible team using the 10‑day DL to shuttle pitchers, and because MLB made several DL/IL‑related changes around the same time, the two issues get conflated. But the public record is clear:
MLB only cited terminology and disability‑advocacy concerns—not misuse—as the reason for the change.
Bubble repaired, inflated and floating.
The players and their agents defer money in their contracts. The Dodgers can’t just pick and choose when they want to pay the guys on their roster.
A disability is a permanent physical or mental limitation, i.e., a handicap. An injury is the loss, temporarily or permanently, of a physical or mental function. An injury can lead to a disability, but only if it cannot be reversed. The words mean what they always have, so it never made any sense to call every baseball player who is hurt as a result of playing the game “disabled” while they are recovering. But people will find nefarious and cynical explanations for everything these days. They need to get over it.
“falsely conflates disabilities with injuries and an inability to participate in sports.”
Sporting News
That only happens when you
…………misuse the list
When you don’t misuse the list nobody falsely conflates being disabled (unable to play) with just any old injury
Lmao typed all that just to be debunked yet again
Bubble Bursted, again
“ A disability is a permanent physical or mental limitation”
Wasn’t called the disability list it was called the disabled list
Disabled: of a person) having a physical or mental condition that limits movements, senses, or activities.
You can be disabled permanently or you can be disabled briefly or anywhere in between
If I break my foot leg I am considered disabled as I need assistance to move whether that’s crutches a scooter or wheel chair
If I break my arm wrist I am considered disabled if I can’t use my arm wrist as intended
See when you put guys on the disabled list for soreness rest breaks instead of torn muscles ligaments broken body parts…..that’s not being disabled
Which is why dodgers and other teams misusing the disabled list led towards the league stepping in to change the name to better reflect who’s eligible
Fenway monster spends hours looking up quotes only to have his time wasted by a 5 second rebuttal lmao
“following a successful effort from disability advocacy groups,” because the term “disabled list” was “criticized for being inaccurate.”
sportslawblo…
It’s only inaccurate if you misuse the list. Nobody blinks an eye at a guy who pulls his hamstring and put on the disabled list. They do if you misuse it and put a guy on it for fatigue
“falsely conflates disabilities with injuries and an inability to participate in sports.”
Sporting News
Again only happens if you misuse the intended purposes of the list. Yes guys on the disabled list are unable to play for whatever reason. When you misuse the disabled list to put healthy guys on jt for rest yes people start falsely equating disabled with non disabled attributes
“out of concern that there’s a connotation”
CBS Sports
Again, this refers to the connotation of the word “disabled”,
Connotation only exists if you constantly misuse the word. Just like calling someone tarded is a misuse of the word tarded and adds an unnecessary connotation to the word tarded. If you use appropriately and as intended no negative connotations exists. Saying my Down syndrome cousin is mentally tarded or has mental tardation is accurate
If you say a player with a broken hand is on the disabled list no negative connotation exists. If you misuse the disabled list and put players on it saying they’re disabled cause their arm is sore yeah that forms negative connotations
Thanks for proving my entire point
Dodgers and others misusing the disabled list led towards the mlb renaming it
You seem to be having a problem with both reading and English language comprehension. Logic doesn’t appear to be your strong suit either.
Didn’t disprove a single thing I said. Gave you the exact definition of disabled and plethora of examples of people who are temporarily disabled and BlueSkies_LA willingly decides to be the epitome / poster child of the California education system.
LA must stand for laughable arguments cause yours just plain suck in every sense of the word.
Words are hard for BlueSkies_LA
Disabled
(of a person) having a physical or mental condition that limits movements, senses, or activities.
(of a disease, injury, or accident) limit (someone) in their movements, senses, or activities
As in BlueSkies_LA is obviously mentally disabled given their struggles comprehending definitions of words; they might have a processing disorder.
Here’s a big frowny face for you. 🙁
When you read posts by people like BlueSkies_LA, California ranking mid 30s out of 50 in education makes a ton of sense.
Disabled list
Not
Disability list
Poor guy had to pitch 3 times in a series and he is worn out? Typical dodger BS. I’m sure they will get away with some phantom injury so he doesn’t pitch until July.
And when Gavin Stone, River Ryan, etc beat your team making almost nothing instead of Snell? Where’s the problem?
@IA
Yawn
He threw 13! innings in the series and he’s tired?
Bob Gibson is rolling over in his grave. Heck even MadBum is snickering.
Marichal went 16 innings in a regular season game once.
What a baby, seriously.
I’m all for protecting your arms, etc, but c’mon it’s 4 months ago and you only threw 13 innings….,
Why when I was a boy we had to walk 137 miles to school each day…
And get off my lawn!
Rickey, his point is valid. 13 innings 4 months ago over what, 10 days? And he only pitched 65 in the regular season.
It isn’t like he was overused and overworked to justify some, oh I’m so tired crap.
As if either of you know whether there is anything wrong with him or not. But let’s assume the worst.
Well, the Dodgers are not saying “anything is wrong with him” – just that he is ramping up and won’t be ready for opening day.
What else is there to make of it? If there was an injury now would be the time to share. Why the mystery, if there is an injury.
I’m suggesting he isn’t injured only because they are not saying he is injured.
He is saying he was worn out after the series – not injured.
Dodgers say they are giving him time – not injured.
What do you have to show that he is injured?
Nah, no one has mentioned an injury. Those 13 innings must’ve been the hardest 13 innings in the history of MLB. After 4 months he’s still recovering!
Yamamoto must be thinking, geez what a softie. I threw 17 2/3 and won 3 games.
@Long
As I said, you don’t know one way or the other. Neither do I.
But why come at me because I’m responding based on what is actually being said by the parties (or not said) – my comments are based on no one discussing or mentioning an injury.
It isn’t like I making this up or supposing or assuming. They aren’t talking about an injury.
What we DO KNOW – no one has mentioned an injury so, why assume there is one?
Why do you think he is injured?
Where in this inane chain does it say I think Snell is injured? What I have said since the beginning is “As if either of you know whether there is anything wrong with him or not. But let’s assume the worst.” But you go ahead and repeat yourself a few more times.
I’ll give you a chance to explain then.
The topic was Snell is tired and needs to miss time .
You jump in and “no one knows” “ assume the worst” comments.
The inference is clearly that you are disagreeing with the posts suggesting he is tired and shouldn’t be tired and complaining and not ramping up to start season.
What was your purpose if not to suggest he was injured as his reasons?
You weren’t coming off as agreeing with us.
Oh my god. Take a reading comprehension class.
What “worst” did we assume?
Can you say or do you want to live in a state of plausible deniability by not coming out and defining what you meant by “assume the worst”z
You clearly are acting as my interpretation is incorrect as to what you meant so just ell me.
What are you saying we are assuming by “assuming the worst”?
An update on Snell today from Dodger Blue…
dodgerblue.com/dodgers-injury-update-blake-snell-l…
MadBum is still trying to fetch Max Muncy’s homers out of the ocean.
The Dodgers should do whatever they have to do to optimize every one of their pitcher’s maximum output. That is what good GMs do…
Actually , Riki is far from a lock for that starting spot. He needs to show he can consistently have command if he wants to make it as a starter.
Riki, don’t lose that number.
It’s the only one you have!
“It’s the only one you own,” to quote the masters. You can send it off in a letter to yourself.
Every franchise is a multi billion dollar business. Every multi billion dollar business, regardless of it’s way of making money, faces complex and largely incomprehensible regulations. That’s true for banks, share corporations, chains of grocery stores and MLB franchises.
They all…every last one of them, hire accountants, lawyers and other assorted experts to navigate these rules. Most of them cut so close to the edge that they face fines and penalties. I don’t see any evidence that the Dodgers are any worse than the other franchises. If you think they are “getting away with more” then it just proves that they have better lawyers. If their tactics are more successful it’s likely that they have a much deeper bench than your team. No gain in juggling innings by mediocre pitchers.
IL stints already? At least wait until the season starts so that you can start manipulating these fake injuries