The Dodgers got a bit of a scare when Blake Snell left tonight’s start in Cincinnati after one inning. The team announced that he’s dealing with left groin tightness.

It doesn’t appear to be a serious issue. Dylan Hernández and Jack Harris of The California Post reported that it was a precautionary removal and that Snell was hopeful of making his next start. The two-time Cy Young winner framed it similarly, telling reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic) that the groin tightened up in his pregame warm-up and didn’t improve during the first inning. He opted not to push it but said he believed he’ll make another start before the end of the regular season.

The Dodgers’ focus obviously extends beyond next week. They’re well positioned to secure a top two seed and an automatic bid to the Division Series, which starts on October 3. They’ve already wrapped up the NL West and are 3.5 games clear of the Braves for the first-round bye. Snell probably lines up as the #3 starter in a playoff series behind Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tarik Skubal. There’s a decent chance they won’t need him to make his playoff debut until October 6.

Snell has been limited to 38 2/3 regular season innings this year. He began the year on the shelf with shoulder fatigue. He subsequently missed three months between May and August due to loose bodies in his elbow which required the NanoNeedle procedure. Snell has had a history of groin injuries, twice missing time while with the Giants in 2024 due to groin strains. He said postgame he doesn’t feel this is as serious as those prior injuries.

Justin Wrobleski and Landon Knack will have a tandem start for tomorrow’s finale at Great American Ball Park, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (via Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register). Knack will be recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City with Bobby Miller optioned back down. They haven’t announced rotation plans for this weekend’s series in San Francisco but could stay on schedule with Tyler Glasnow followed by Skubal and Yamamoto.

They’re waiting to determine how Roki Sasaki fits in that mix. The second-year righty has been out since August 27 due to a blister on his middle finger. He threw a four-inning simulated game on Wednesday, according to the MLB.com injury tracker. The Dodgers haven’t determined whether Sasaki will slot back into the rotation or move to short relief in preparation for his likely postseason role.

In another bit of Dodgers-adjacent news, Mark Walter and Todd Boehly officially sold their ownership stakes in the English Premier League team Chelsea F.C. on Wednesday. They’d each owned nearly 13% of the franchise. The Financial Times reports that they sold their share for a combined £950M (approximately $1.27 billion) to Clearlake Capital — the investment firm founded by new Padres owner José E. Feliciano.

The sale comes not long after Walter also sold the NBA’s Lakers while his insurance companies are under scrutiny. (ESPN’s James Olley reported last month that Clearlake’s relationship with Boehly, in particular, had deteriorated in recent years.) Dodgers CEO Stan Kasten flatly stated in August that ownership had no plans to sell the baseball franchise and pushed back against the suggestion that potential cash flow problems would have any impact on the Dodgers’ payroll.