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Dodgers All-Star Turns In Strong Rehab Start After Blake Snell News

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Nate Miller | Last updated Apr 10, 2025 2:30 PM ET

Blake Snell is one of the most dominant starting pitchers in baseball. With two Cy Young awards on his resume, that cannot reasonably be argued against at this point.

Unfortunately, Snell is also quite injury prone. His new team is already feeling the effects of that fact. This past weekend, the Dodgers, less than two weeks into Snell's five-year, $182 million contract, placed the lefty on the the 15-day IL with shoulder inflammation.

Dodgers fans should not be too concerned, however. Their club has built up a ridiculous amount of starting pitching depth. Among that group is one hurler who has not appeared in an MLB game since August of 2023.

Tony Gonsolin underwent Tommy John surgery more than a year and a half ago. The 2022 All-Star was expected to be back in the Dodgers' rotation in time for Opening Day this year but suffered a back injury early in Spring Training that ultimately forced him to the IL.

Gonsolin has been ramping things up toward a return from this latest setback. The right-hander threw 46 pitches (34 strikes) with outstanding results during his second rehab start for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday.

Tony Gonsolin allowed 1 unearned run and 1 hit over 3.1 innings during tonight's rehab start in Round Rock.

He notched 7 strikeouts and threw 46 total pitches. pic.twitter.com/qo9wt97HFz
— Oklahoma City Comets (@OKC_comets) April 10, 2025

While it seems Snell's injury is not too concerning in the long-term, it is certainly reassuring for the Dodgers to know they should have a proven pitcher like Gonsolin back in the mix soon. This is exactly the reason that the Los Angeles front office has supplied the club with so many options.

Manager Dave Roberts said recently that the Dodgers would like to see Gonsolin build up to at least five innings before returning to the bigs. Given the way Gonsolin has looked so far in his rehab work along with Snell's injury status, the team may decide to speed that plan up a bit.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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