Dodgers Interview: Snell Discusses Shakeup in October Rotation
MILWAUKEE — The NLCS opens Monday night in Milwaukee, and Blake Snell will take the ball for the Dodgers. Sunday’s media session sounded like a pitcher who’s done his homework and likes where the club is. He gave Milwaukee plenty of respect and still leaned into what he does best.
Asked about a lineup that lives on contact and chaos, Snell said, “I was able to watch last night’s game, so that was fun. They feed off each other. It’s a very energetic lineup.” He didn’t treat their approach as some mystery to solve. “They put the ball in play, so you make them swing at your pitches,” he said. “You figure out what they’re good at, what they’re not good at, and I’ll tell you how to attack them.” He kept a few cards tucked away. “I can’t say too much because you’d intend they’re going to watch this,” he added, before circling back to the big picture: “It’s a really good lineup. I’m not falling for the idea they’re average. They got the best record in the NL. They’re a really good team.”
The Brewers love to run, which means the pitcher’s clock speeds up once a man reaches. Snell didn’t blink. “The goal is keep them off the bases,” he said. “If they are on the bases, it just depends which runner is on. No matter what, it’ll change the way you view them.” He went into the nuts and bolts the way starters do in October. “The leg lift to home, the time, the looks, disrupting that,” he said. “I’ve studied them. I understand who’s running, who’s not running, counts, all that. If we get to that point, I’ll be ready for it and well aware of it.”
There was a natural question about freshness. Three of the four rotation arms didn’t log huge regular-season workloads. Snell saw an upside. “On the fresh part, yeah, for sure,” he said. “We were able to throw enough innings to learn from mistakes and get a lot better from that as well.” He tipped his cap to the one steady post. “Yoshi was the only guy that really posted the whole year,” he said, “but for everybody else to be healthy, feeling good, confident with the amount of innings they had on the season to be able to pitch in the postseason, I really like where we’re at.”
Snell has talked about wanting to push deeper into playoff starts. He kept the answer simple and personal. “I think it’s just mindset,” he said. “As you get older, you learn a lot more. You understand pitching. You understand how important belief is and you just get better with age, understanding the game and situations and what pressure really is and how awesome these moments are.” He paused on the part that matters on a night like Game 1. “I think age has made me a lot better.”
The July series in Milwaukee didn’t go the Dodgers’ way, and Snell wasn’t around for it, but he thinks the losses might serve to fire up his teammates. “We haven’t beat them, so that’s good motivation if you need it,” he said. “We’re playing good team baseball. We’re all in it. The chemistry between us is really strong and the want to win every game is strong as well.” He’s been in other clubhouses this time of year, which gave the next line some weight. “I’ve been on postseason teams where it’s been different,” he said. “Energy-wise, chemistry-wise, this is probably the best I’ve been a part of. I’m really excited for what we can do.”
Scouting-wise, he didn’t lean on secondhand notes. He went straight to the tape. “I didn’t ask anybody,” he said. “I watch games, footage. I watched yesterday’s game.” The angle is smart: playoff reps show who adjusts under heat. “The playoff games are going to give you the best idea of who they are,” he said. “How they handle pressure, how they play on the road, how they play at home, what’s different.” That observation turns into a plan once he toes the rubber. “By watching that it gave me a lot of insight on each hitter, what they can do, what I think I can get away with, where I can attack,” he said. “If you watch players’ at-bats, how they handle failure, success, it helps you understand the player. Then when it’s the one-on-one matchup in the box and I’m on the mound, that’s where you understand, was I right, was I wrong, and you feel the at-bat out and learn how to pitch.”
He even waded into the national rooting-interest question with a shrug and a smile. “I think they’d root for us,” he said, then admitted it’s a wide question with no real answer. “Maybe they want a fresh face. We just won one as the Dodgers did, not me,” he said. “I know being from Seattle how important the World Series is there and how crazy the city was after they beat Detroit. I haven’t looked into that too much, but I’m sure whoever wins the World Series, they’ll be happy.”
Strip it all down and you get a starter who respects Milwaukee’s contact-and-pressure style, trusts his preparation, and believes in the room he’s walking into with the ball. “Make them swing at your pitches,” he said early, almost like a note to himself. “I’ve studied them. I’ll be ready.” And on the stuff you can’t scout with a laptop, he kept it steady: “As you get older, you understand what pressure really is and how awesome these moments are.” Game 1 awaits. So does the one-on-one matchup he’s been watching for.
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