Ohtani is better for the ball, but Snell is starting in the first round of the WCS, and the more rest he takes, the better he throws

Sep 30, 2025

Ohtani is better for the ball, but Snell is starting in the first round of the WCS, and the more rest he takes, the better he throws
LA Dodgers Blake Snell will take the mound as the starter in the first WCS game against the Cincinnati Reds on the 1st (Korea time). AP Yonhap News



Ohtani is better for the ball, but Snell is starting in the first round of the WCS, and the more rest he takes, the better he throws
블레이크 스넬. AP Yonhap News
Blake Snell is the starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers' first game of the fall 2025 baseball season.

MLB.com reported on the 30th (Korea time) 'Left-hander Blake Snell will start Game 1 of the Wild Card Series (WCS) against the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium tomorrow'

Snell pitched 61 ⅓ innings in 11 games this season, going 5-4 with a 2.35 ERA, 72 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.26. Snell in good health is an ace, but he was often injured.




last winterSnell, who joined Juss on a five-year, $182 million FA contract, was diagnosed with left shoulder inflammation after throwing two games after the opening of the season and went on the injured list (IL) and returned in early August after four months of rehabilitation.

After returning, he pitched more than five innings in all nine games, and pitched four scoreless games. He had a 2.41 ERA in nine games, a 0.222 hit rate and a WHIP of 1.13. In particular, he pitched five hits and one run in six innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks on the 25th, his last appearance of the season.

Ohtani is better for the ball, but Snell is starting in the first round of the WCS, and the more rest he takes, the better he throws
LA Dodgers Shohei Ohtani is expected to start the second round of the WCS. ImagesYonhap News
Initially, Shohei Ohtani was mentioned as the Dodgers' first starter for this fall's baseball game. Not only did he throw six innings for the first time this year against Arizona on the 24th, but he also continued his perfect pitching of eight hits, two walks and 18 strikeouts in 14 ⅔ innings in the last three games of the season. In his last appearance, his fastball speed was up to 101.2 miles, and he averaged 98.2 miles.




Still, manager Dave Roberts chose Snell. It seems that there are two elements in the background. First of all, Ohtani should give him enough rest because he gradually raised his pitching sense after returning to the mound in June. Roberts said `The more Otani rests, the better he throws.' He has a 3.00 ERA in 12 games he has pitched after resting for more than six days this season.

The second was that Ohtani had never taken the mound in the postseason yet. Ohtani, who made his major league debut in 2018, has never entered the fall baseball league when he was with the Los Angeles Angels, and since he rehabilitated as a pitcher after elbow surgery after moving to the Dodgers last year, he has only played as a batter in the postseason.

Ohtani is better for the ball, but Snell is starting in the first round of the WCS, and the more rest he takes, the better he throws
블레이크 스넬. AP Yonhap News
On the other hand, Snell has a total of 12 games (10 starts), 48 ⅔ innings, and an ERA of 3.33 in the postseason. The most recent fall baseball appearance was the 2022 NL Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies during the San Diego Padres.




Then, when will Ohtani take the mound. At the moment, he seems to be a strong contender for the second round of the WCS. If it goes to Game 3, Yoshinobu Yamamoto may be sent out, and after Game 2, Yamamoto may be used as the starting pitcher in Game 1 of the Division Series.

The Cincinnati starter who will face Snell is right-hander Hunter Green. Green, whose main weapon is 100-mile fastball, is an ace who pitched 107 ⅔ innings in 19 games this season with 7 wins and 4 losses, a 2.76 ERA, a 0.94 WHIP and a 0.192 hit rate. He pitched in one game against the Dodgers this year and lost five innings with six hits and five runs.

Snell has never pitched against Cincinnati this season, throwing 15 innings in two career games, marking a 1.80 ERA.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.