Blake Snell exited Wednesday's start early with groin tightness, and the severity of the injury is still unknown.
The Dodgers are reportedly going to decide Thursday whether he needs to get imaging or not. Hopefully, Snell does not miss time, but considering how close the postseason is and his history with groin injuries, the Dodgers need to have a plan if he is unable to go in October.
Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Snell and Tyler Glasnow were expected to be the Dodgers' postseason rotation. The Dodgers are already without Shohei Ohtani and Eric Lauer on the mound for the rest of the year. Justin Wrobleski was an All-Star this year, but has struggled as of late and will likely be a bigger factor in the bullpen for the rest of the season.
Should Snell be unable to pitch for a series in the postseason, there is only one real option for the Dodgers, and it's a good one. Roki Sasaki has spent the last three weeks on the injured list with a blister, but before that he was looking like the star the Dodgers expected when they signed him last year.
Excluding the game he left early with the blister, Sasaki had a 2.31 ERA and 34 strikeouts in his last six starts. The Dodgers got him a bigger glove to solve some tipping issues and tweaked his delivery slightly. If Snell is out, Sasaki would step in as the fourth starter in October.
A postseason rotation of Skubal, Yamamoto, Sasaki and Glansow is one most teams could only dream of. The Dodgers are in a position to claim a bye, so perhaps that will help them out and give Snell some extra time to heal up.