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2026 Fantasy Baseball Player Profile

Blake Snell’s first season with the Dodgers in 2025 was a microcosm of his entire career: dominant when healthy, but frustratingly scarce. After signing a massive 5-year, $182 million contract in the offseason, Snell was limited to just 11 regular-season starts (61.1 innings) due to severe left shoulder inflammation that shelved him for four months. When he was on the mound, he was elite, posting a sparkling 2.35 ERA with 72 strikeouts. He returned in time for the playoffs and was a critical piece of the Dodgers' World Series run, including a dominant 10-strikeout performance in the NLCS, though the heavy postseason workload reportedly re-aggravated his shoulder issue.

Entering 2026, Snell is the definition of a high-risk, high-reward ace. Recent reports indicate he is "ramping up slowly" this winter due to lingering shoulder discomfort, casting doubt on his availability for Opening Day. While surgery has been ruled out, the Dodgers will likely treat him with extreme caution given their rotation depth. Projections forecast a workload of around 140-150 innings with an ERA in the mid-3.00s and elite strikeout numbers (180+). Fantasy managers should view him as a volatile SP2/3; if he pitches 150 innings, he could win a Cy Young, but the risk of another lost season is baked into his draft price.