As expected, the Los Angeles Dodgers are good — perhaps very good. The NL West is a bloodbath, with the San Diego Padres currently holding a half-game lead in first place, but the Dodgers are unmatched when it comes to experience and firepower.
If we are predicting World Series champs, there isn't a better pick than the team from Hollywood. That said, the Dodgers aren't invincible. The first month of the MLB season has laid bare what is arguably the biggest weak point in baseball's most expensive and least exploitable roster.
LA doesn't lack for talent, but how durable in that talent? That question best applies to the pitching staff, which took a major hit on Wednesday.
Blake Snell "didn't feel great" after a recent catch session, per Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. The Dodgers will shut down the two-time Cy Young winner indefinitely, with the potential for further imaging in the near future. He will be reevaluated when the team arrives back in Los Angeles on Friday.
Blake Snell’s upcoming bullpen session was cancelled after he felt discomfort in his shoulder while playing catch yesterday.
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 23, 2025
Dave Roberts said he will get re-examined when the team gets back to Los Angeles, but is not concerned right now. pic.twitter.com/wMbxizDa93
Snell has a 2.00 ERA through two starts (9.0 innings) this season, but his immediate future is hazy at best. The Dodgers are, in theory, deep enough to survive Snell's absence, but things get tricky when the injuries pile up and durability is an open-ended question across the board.
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe toThe Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.
Blake Snell shows Dodgers kryptonite as he suffers untimely elbow injury
It's unclear how long Snell will be on the shelf, but the southpaw has a long history of elbow and forearm problems. The 32-year-old won the Cy Young award five years apart, in 2018 and 2023. In between, he did not eclipse 130 innings once. Last season, Snell made 20 starts and compiled 104.0 innings of work in San Francisco.
He's electric at his peak, but all too often, Snell spends a significant portion of a season rehabbing injuries and working his way back to full strength.
This isn't an isolated issue for the Dodgers either. Tyler Glasnow made his MLB debut in 2016 and has pitched more than 130 innings in a season just once. Roki Sasaki arrived in Los Angeles to high expectations, but he narrowly avoided Tommy John surgery when he was 18 and his stuff has been losing zip in recent years. His ability to pitch deep into games — and seasons — was always in question.
Clayton Kershaw is still working through the minors after a foot injury. Bobby Miller hasn't seemed right for years now. Gavin Stone made 25 starts last season; he's out for the duration of 2025 after undergoing preseason shoulder surgery.
This is a huge dark cloud looming over the Dodgers rotation. Yoshinobu Yamamoto looks like a Cy Young candidate right now, but even he was limited to 18 starts and 90.0 innings last season due to arm issues. As a 25-year-old rookie. Can he hold up for a full 162-game campaign? And how much of the Dodgers' rotation can pass that stress test alongside him?
Shohei Ohtani isn't expected back on the mound for a few more months, and it's an open debate as to whether or not he even should pitch again.
The Dodgers' offense is a tank, and the rotation is as well when it's healthy. It's unclear if LA can actually keep its best arms on the mound for a full season, though. That leaves the NL's foremost juggernaut vulnerable.