Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spoke with reporters, including Jack Harris of the California Post, and gave updates on the players on the roster and their health or lack thereof. Perhaps most notably, the captain said he was left-handed Blake Snell he’s making some progress on his ramp-up but is likely 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 pitching staff. The bullpen was shaky, so they leaned heavily on their starters, even using them for relief. Snell pitched five innings in the first game of the World Series, 6 2/3 in game five, then pitched a third inning in the bullpen in game seven. In January, Snell admitted that he was exhausted by the end of the series.
He and the team plan to build intentionally here in camp, with a much longer-term focus than Opening Day. That’s a luxury the Dodgers can afford as the roster is so strong that they can’t afford to downplay the importance of regular season games, making sure their players are focused on getting healthy in October. With this in mind, Yoshinobu Yamamoto he 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 him to be ready for Opening Day. The circulation should still be strong or absent. Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow again Emmett Sheehan it should have four closed spaces. Roki Sasaki it will probably take the fifth. Boys love it Ryan River, Ben Casparius, Justin Wrobleski, Kyle Hurt, Gavin Stone or Landon Knack you can step up to start, if needed.
Turning to the bullpen, Roberts also landed a right hand Brusdar Graterol It is in a “holding pattern” and has not given up on the mound recently. It was already known that he would not be ready for opening day, but what is worth noting is that he still hasn’t improved.
Graterol was a key part of the Dodger bullpen from 2020 to 2023, posting a 2.69 earned run average over 173 2/3 innings, but he hasn’t thrown in the past two years. Shoulder problems and a pulled hamstring kept him out seven times in 2024. Surgery on that shoulder sidelined him for 2025 and it looks like he’s not quite done yet. Similar to the Snell situation, the Dodgers can afford not to chase him and let him get fully healthy, but it would be encouraging to see some improvement.
Roberts also noted that the right-hander Bobby Miller has yet to take a mound this spring due to an undisclosed arm/shoulder issue. He is hopeful that he will go up in the next few weeks but that depends on the issue going down.
Miller is the wild card on the list. He appeared to break out in 2023, making his major league debut with a 3.76 ERA in 124 1/3 innings. But he posted a dismal 8.52 ERA in 2024 and then spent most of 2025 on voluntary 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 the batters he faced in that relief role but also struck out at a whopping 13.2% clip. He still has a few options, so the Dodgers can continue to discuss him in the minors as long as they continue to see him as worthy of a spot on the 40-man.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
