Dodgers rehab – Mookie Betts is closing in on his rehab assignment after resuming batting, while Blake Snell works through early rehab starts and Brock Stewart nears his final checks before returning to the Dodgers.
The Dodgers’ injury-return timeline is starting to look clearer, with three key players moving through rehab stages that can’t be rushed—especially when live-game readiness is the goal.
Mookie Betts is the headline on the position-player side.. After doing the building blocks—throwing. running. and fielding ground balls—he has now resumed swinging. which was the final major step before the club can begin loading him with live at-bats.. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts described a process where progress has been steady. even if there’s still some minor irritation lingering from earlier setbacks.
Roberts said Betts has been able to complete each stage without discomfort that would force a reset. and that the recent swing work is part of why the team feels “encouraged” about the next step.. He can’t give an exact day for the assignment yet. but the expectation is that it will be soon—potentially tied to a short window where Betts takes a couple rehab games to regain timing and leg strength.
That “timing and legs back” idea matters more than fans sometimes realize.. Rehab isn’t just about whether a player can move through a session; it’s about whether the body holds up across repetitions that mimic game rhythm.. The Dodgers appear to be leaning into that logic with Betts: each day that passes with improvement reduces uncertainty about the risk of re-irritation once he transitions to taking live at-bats for multiple games.
Brock Stewart’s path is advancing on the pitching side. where the calendar is often just as important as the health check.. The right-hander is already in his second week of a rehab assignment and has made four appearances across two levels in the minors.. The Dodgers’ plan appears to be a measured ramp rather than a quick jump. because pitchers typically need a set structure of appearances. recovery days. and back-to-back readiness before they can be cleared.
Roberts shared that the organization is pleased with Stewart’s process.. He’s in OKC, and the club feels the progression is going as it should.. The remaining “boxes” are straightforward but not automatic: Stewart still needs two appearances in a three-day stretch and then the back-to-back component. followed by a brief recovery evaluation.. Roberts described this as part of the final clearance pathway—if it goes smoothly. the Dodgers could be looking at his return roughly within the next week.
The timeline detail is crucial here.. The reason teams take back-to-backs so seriously is simple: it tests how a pitcher responds after already doing the job once.. Stuff can look fine on day one and fade on day two, and mechanics can change under fatigue.. Stewart’s rehab workload suggests the Dodgers want to reduce those variables before he reaches a point where he would be asked to perform against major-league hitters with less margin for error.
Blake Snell is the other pitching story. and his first rehab start already offered a glimpse of what the Dodgers are working through.. Snell’s return to pitching action came after missing the entire spring. and that kind of gap can show up quickly—he allowed two runs on three hits with a walk in just over one inning.. The key positive, however, is that he left the outing without lingering issues, which keeps the plan moving.
The Dodgers expect Snell to make at least four rehab starts before he’s fully ready to come back.. His next start is expected early next week, with the club aiming for around three innings.. That’s a meaningful shift from his opener: more innings can help sharpen rhythm and command. but it also forces the team to monitor how his body handles extended effort.. If that step goes well. it typically makes later rehab starts feel less like a test and more like a ramp to full responsibility.
Together. these rehab timelines show a pattern: the Dodgers appear to be trying to regain players without forcing the calendar to do the work of preparation.. Betts is progressing through the final swing-to-live transition; Stewart is completing the back-to-back and recovery steps that pitchers need; Snell is moving from rust exposure toward a more stable innings workload.. For fans. that’s the difference between “hope” and “readiness”—and right now. Misryoum’s takeaway is that the team is trending in the direction of a meaningful return soon. but only because each step is being treated like it matters.