The Athletic’s bold prediction for Blake Snell, Dodgers has fans scratching their heads

With Opening Day on the horizon, it's the time of year when the pundits come out with all sorts of bold predictions and hot takes for what is about to unfold. When you have a team as good as the Los Angeles Dodgers, that can be a tough task.

There's nothing bold about saying the Dodgers will be good. They have top-end talent. They have depth. They have resources. One way or another, they'll have another deep playoff run ahead of them. Instead, picking a breakout player is as close as one can come to truly predicting something bold.

Eno Sarris of The Athletic (subscription required) does just that, but in doing so, he has Blake Snell catching some unnecessary strays when he predicted that Justin Wrobleski would out-produce the two-time Cy Young Winner in 2026.

Justin Wrobleski could be in line for a 2026 breakout, but that doesn't mean the Dodgers should write off Blake Snell

The impetus for the prediction has to do with Snell's first bullpen session, when he was sitting between 87 and 89 miles per hour on the gun. The context of Snell's shoulder injury was given, but not that Los Angeles is slow-playing his return, nor that the pitches weren't coming at max effort.

We all know that Snell is fragile. The star southpaw has topped 130 innings in a single season just twice over his decade-long career, but each time he has, he's come away with a Cy Young trophy for his troubles. Even when he's not logging high innings totals, he's still incredibly effective when he is out there.

Many teams would need a pitcher like Snell to lead their rotation every fifth day, or else they'd be in a world of trouble. That's not the case for the Dodgers, and hurlers like Wrobleski are the reason why.

Sarris rightly points out that the 25-year-old has an impressive repertoire. That's a reason to bet on him producing above and beyond expectations. While his 2025 campaign didn't seem all that special with a 4.32 ERA coming mostly out of the pen, the peripherals tell a different story.

Wrobleski posted a higher-than-average strikeout rate (27.1%), a stellar walk rate (6.1%), and a superb ground ball rate (50.6%). Where he got burned was with a 66.6% left on-base rate, well below league average, which indicates there was some bad luck involved. His 3.41 xERA and 2.93 FIP confirm that assumption, and his combination of high strikeouts, low walks, and a healthy serving of ground balls is always a winning recipe.

If you wanted to boldly predict that Wrobleski will throw more innings than Snell or have more total strikeouts, or something having to do with playing time, we'd understand. But to say he's going to outproduce Snell while he's dealing with an injury seems off the mark.

We're all in for a Wrobleski breakout. It's a great prediction and has a decent shot at coming true. We don't need the Snell slander, though. Maybe at some point the injuries catch up with him, but for now, projecting that seems to be a bit more than just a bold take.