What I’m seeing at Dodgers camp: Blake Snell’s timeline, Shohei’s build-up and more

PHOENIX — A crowd formed Thursday for what was effectively Blake Snell’s first day of spring training. The Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander threw a bullpen session that served as an important checkpoint. So a who’s who of Dodgers personnel stood behind him and watched as Snell threw 15 fastballs at less than maximum effort to test the state of his bothersome left shoulder.

Between pitches, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman glanced over to pitching coach Mark Prior, who also consulted with manager Dave Roberts. When Snell’s session ended, the pitcher chatted with a trainer before going over to Chris Archer, a special assistant in Dodgers camp whom Snell once called a teammate with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Consider it a box checked. Snell completed the session without discomfort. Advised to taper off his velocity, Snell obliged — he sat at around 87 to 88 mph.

“I felt effortless, easy, could command the ball,” Snell said. “So happy with that.”

While an offseason scan showed just inflammation, Snell felt discomfort when throwing at the start of this spring training.

“Every throw kind of hurt,” Snell said. “It was just, every throw, I could feel my shoulder like, ‘Ah, it’ll get better, it’ll get better,’ but it was just cranky. I couldn’t get it going. And I thought I was doing everything I needed to do, which I believe I was. Ultimately, I feel better (now).”

Snell has taken things slow this spring. The Dodgers can afford to be patient. At almost every other camp, Snell’s timeline would consume plenty of oxygen. The Dodgers are a team without Snell for two months a year ago and wound up winning the World Series with a playoff boost from the two-time Cy Young winner. Snell’s greatest value comes in October.

“We still need him to pitch,” Roberts said. “And he understands that. But yeah, we do have the luxury of trying to err on the side of caution.”

Snell has learned how to manage his body better. He’s leaned on advice from veterans he respects regarding how to diagnose what he’s feeling. That group has included Archer and the recently retired Clayton Kershaw.

“I still feel really in control of everything I’m doing, but definitely learning, asking a lot more questions, and trying to figure out, when I do get older, just what comes to the forefront of everything,” Snell said.

Snell indicated he’s willing to push up his timeline. He alluded to the end of April — six weeks from now, enough for a full standard spring buildup — as a potential loose goal to pitch in games.

“That’d be sick,” Snell said. “Yeah, I want to pitch.”

The Dodgers remain adamant that Shohei Ohtani will be ready to pitch at the start of the season, despite the World Baseball Classic interrupting that timeline. That’s what made Thursday’s workout an encouraging sight: Ohtani took the mound for four live simulated innings, seemingly keeping him in line with the rest of his rotation mates regarding build-up.

Justin Wrobleski didn’t go into his outing Sunday at Hohokam Stadium trying to lean heavily on his cutter. Yet, Dalton Rushing kept pushing the button on his PitchCom. Wrobleski threw nine of them over three innings against right-handed hitters. It induced three swings-and-misses.

Wrobleski didn’t need the cutter much last summer in his transition to a relief role. However, if he plans to remain a starter, the pitch will need to be a valuable weapon to handle right-handed hitters multiple times throughout a game.

“I kind of brought it back last year in spring training,” Wrobleski said. “Just didn’t have to throw it a bunch out of the bullpen. … It just opens up a lot, especially now that I have more confidence in the changeup.”

The Dodgers are stretching Wrobleski out to start spring, as a matter of retaining some starting pitching depth. He’s performed this spring, as he hasn’t allowed a run or walk in six innings while maintaining some of the aggressiveness in the zone that wowed Dodgers officials in his relief role.

He appears to be on the outside looking in for the Dodgers’ Opening Day rotation, but he’s done his part to keep his name next to players like Emmet Sheehan and River Ryan.

“(He needs to) just keep doing what he’s doing,” Roberts said. “Obviously, there’s a performance part of it for guys. There’s a build-up part of it. Right now, he’s checked both of those boxes.”

Zach Ehrhard has yet to make his big-league debut, but he’s had plenty of exposure to Hall of Famers.

After all, he had Hall of Famer Wade Boggs as a volunteer assistant when he was at Paul R. Wharton High School in Tampa, Fla.

“It was really cool,” Ehrhard said. “He’s a great guy and really helpful. Wade Boggs is a Hall of Famer. That’s crazy in itself, but he didn’t act like it.”

Ehrhard is new in Dodgers camp this spring, coming to the organization with James Tibbs III in the deal that sent Dustin May to the Boston Red Sox at last year’s trade deadline. The move separated Ehrhard from his brother, Drew, who had been his teammate at Double-A Portland.

“It was very emotional,” Ehrhard said. “It was a tough one, because just getting to play with him was such a dream. But afterwards, all my teammates that were there in Portland with me were very supportive and just let me know this was a good thing for me.”

While Tibbs, the former first-round pick, got much of the headlines, Ehrhard might be just as close to breaking through to the big leagues. The Dodgers have worked with him to explore new mental cues as he alters his hand position, which has led to solid results, including an .857 OPS after the trade. He was 11-for-41 (.306) this spring, entering play Thursday.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.