Dodgers get inspiration from Tarik Skubal surgery for Blake Snell to improve timeline

Remember when the Los Angeles Dodgers were taking the careful route with Blake Snell in spring training, slow-playing his return so that he'd be around for the long haul in 2026? The old saying goes, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and it's true for a reason. Snell lasted just three innings in his May 9 comeback. Then he was scratched from his next start.

The pitching injury flavor of the year is elbow surgery to remove loose bodies from the joint. The Yankees' Carlos Rodón underwent a procedure to rectify this issue over the offseason. Since then, Spencer Schwellenback and Hurston Waldrep of the Braves, Hunter Greene of the Reds, Tarik Skubal of the Tigers, and Los Angeles's very own Edwin Diaz have all gone down with the malady. Count Snell as the most recent victim.

Recovery can take months, putting the bulk of the oft-injured hurler's 2026 campaign in doubt, but with a little luck and a state-of-the-art procedure, he might be able to fast-track his return to the Dodgers' battered rotation.

That's because Snell will be undergoing the same "NanoNeedle scope" procedure that Skubal had, and this technique is thought to reduce recovery times dramatically.

The Dodgers and Blake Snell could benefit from a new surgical procedure, but the risk still remains

As we've learned from Skubal's procedure, this is relatively new technology that debuted in 2019 and is much less invasive than the typical arthroscopic surgery used to clear out loose bodies. That's because the needle used to get inside the elbow and view what needs to be removed is substantially smaller, causing less scarring, tissue damage, and inflammation.

That means less swelling and a quicker return to throwing. Cutting down the dormant time needed for the elbow to heal is a great thing, but it doesn't mean that the two-time Cy Young winner will be out of the woods.

He'll miss enough time that he'll have to build his arm back up again, meaning he'll essentially have to redo the work he did to rejoin the Dodgers in the first place. For some pitchers, that isn't such a big deal, but considering Snell's injury history, it's still a risk.

A lower chance of complications from the procedure itself is a welcome development, but if Snell tries to push himself too hard, too fast to come back, it wouldn't be a shock for him to suffer an unrelated injury. After all, that's been his M.O. pretty much his entire career.

It would behoove Los Angeles to once again bring him along slowly. He still would likely miss less time than if he went through a traditional arthroscopic procedure, but he might still be sidelined longer than Skubal due to an abundance of caution.

The bad news is that the Dodgers' depth is under attack, and with Tyler Glasnow's latest setback, there could be some urgency to get Snell back. All in all, caution is still needed if the Dodgers are to thread the needle between this ailment and whatever the inevitable next affliction Snell suffers is.

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