Dodgers suffer another injury blow as Blake Snell exits with groin issue

CINCINNATI –– For all their other problems lately, the Dodgers could at least cling to the fact that the heart of their starting rotation was healthy.On Wednesday night, that might have suddenly changed.After just one inning and 19 pitches at Great American Ball Park against the Cincinnati Reds, left-hander Blake Snell left his start early with left groin tightness, according to the team, getting surprisingly replaced by reliever Blake Treinen at the beginning of the second.It was not immediately clear what caused the issue, or how severe his injury was believed to be.Still, any concern with Snell would be a huge blow to the Dodgers, who have been resting their World Series three-peat hopes, first and foremost, on the strength of a starting rotation led by Snell, Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow.Lately, Snell had been perhaps the stoutest of that bunch, allowing just four runs over six starts since returning from a surgical procedure in May to remove loose bodies from his elbow.Of note: Snell was pitching on just four days’ rest Wednesday, the first time he had done that all year.Injuries have been a recurring problem for Snell since he joined the Dodgers on a five-year, $182 million contract two offseasons ago. He missed much of last year with a shoulder problem, though was healthy enough in the playoffs to make six outings with a 3.18 ERA en route to the club’s World Series title.Ongoing shoulder issues sidelined him at the start of this year, before his elbow injury popped up after his first start back in early May.Snell has had left groin injuries before.He missed more than a month in 2024 when he strained his groin while playing for the San Francisco Giants, and was out the final three weeks of the season in 2021 with an adductor groin strain with the San Diego Padres.If he faces a similar timeline to return again now, it could put his availability for the start of the playoffs in jeopardy.Just like that, the Dodgers injury headache ...