Snell-arious Dodgers Starting Five Now the Best in the West
The Dodgers won the World Series this year, but their October battlefield was littered with the landmines planted by having only three healthy and functioning starting pitchers throughout the postseason. It ultimately worked out, but it’s completely understandable that they were active at the top of the pitching market in free agency.
Blake Snell is thus a perfect fit for the Dodgers, in more ways than one. He satisfies the need for a topline starter to augment depth from the top of the rotation rather than the bottom. But Snell’s history also fits the modus operandi for Los Angeles, gathering pitchers who can be great when healthy but aren’t always available.
Snell had a 3.12 ERA in his 20 starts with the Giants in 2024, but was second in the majors among pitchers with at least 100 innings in xERA (2.54) and FIP (2.43), as well as strikeout rate (34.7 percent). Over the season’s final three months, the left-hander gave up only 12 runs in 14 starts, and allowed zero runs as often as he allowed any runs during that span.
