Battle of NL’s best in Blake Snell’s season debut

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 19: Blake Snell #7 of the Los Angeles Dodgers poses for a photo during Los Angeles Dodgers Photo Day at Camelback Ranch on February 19, 2026 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Mike Christy/Getty Images) | Getty Images As discourse in baseball touches on how the Tigers will fare in the absence of Tarik Skubal, the reigning back-to-back champs take the field with Blake Snell on the mound for the first time in 2026—they do so, having managed his absence about as well as anyone could’ve hoped for, particularly given the outstanding efforts of Justin Wrobleski to keep this rotation running smoothly for the most part. Although the Dodgers ultimately took the win in the first game of this series in an unfavorable matchup against Chris Sale, they probably would’ve liked to see Emmet Sheehan eat up a bit more innings than the 4.

2 he covered—relying heavily on the bullpen finishing the job. Flipping the script, now it’s the Dodgers who send a veteran starter to the mound, and opposing Snell will be Spencer Strider. A starting pitcher who finished top 5 in the Cy Young voting back in 2023, Strider, in large part thanks to injury woes and diminished velocity, has failed to replicate those numbers ever since, coming off a fairly pedestrian 2025 campaign.

While he has Snell beat in MLB exposure this year, it isn’t by much, given that this will only be his second start of the year. Strider had a rocky season debut at Coors Field last week, walking five hitters in 3. 1 innings of work in what was ultimately a Braves 11-6 win.

Things don’t get much easier now for the power righty, visiting Dodger Stadium, squaring off against one of the best offenses in the sport. With neither starter in rhythm as one might expect for a matchup in May, this might be a choppier game than usual, particularly when you account for the quality of these two offenses. Saturday’s game info Teams: Dodgers vs.