Los Angeles, CA — As the crisp October air settles over Dodger Stadium, the ghosts of past October heartbreaks are about to get a long-overdue exorcism. Blake Snell, the fiery left-hander whose name has been synonymous with postseason promise and peril for half a decade, stepped into the spotlight Monday, donning the royal blue once more. It’s been exactly five years since that fateful night in Arlington — October 26, 2020, to be precise — when Snell was unceremoniously yanked from the mound in Game 6 of the World Series, his Tampa Bay Rays clinging to a 3-1 lead over these very Dodgers. What followed was a cruel twist of fate: two runs scored immediately after his exit, flipping the script and handing Los Angeles the championship. Snell, then 27 and brimming with Cy Young swagger, watched from the dugout as his dream slipped away. “That’s the one that haunts me,” he admitted in a raw, unfiltered press conference here on the eve of the NL Wild Card Series. “Five years of what-ifs. But that’s why I came here — to flip the page, to rewrite it my way.”

Fast forward to November 30, 2024, when Snell inked a blockbuster five-year, $182 million pact with the Dodgers, complete with a $52 million signing bonus and deferred payments that sweeten the pot without bloating the immediate payroll. It was a homecoming of sorts, a poetic full-circle moment for a pitcher who once torched Los Angeles’ lineup with nine strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings of dominance — only to see manager Kevin Cash’s controversial hook doom the Rays. Now, at 32, Snell is no longer the wide-eyed phenom; he’s a two-time Cy Young winner (2018 AL, 2023 NL) with a no-hitter under his belt and a chip on his shoulder the size of the Hollywood sign. The deal, finalized after a whirlwind free-agency chase that saw the Yankees, Red Sox, and Orioles circling like vultures, positions Snell as the anchor of a rotation that’s already the envy of baseball: flanked by Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s surgical precision, Tyler Glasnow’s towering heat, and Shohei Ohtani’s two-way wizardry returning to the hill.

Snell’s 2025 season with the Dodgers was a rollercoaster, mirroring the man’s own unapologetic intensity. He broke camp with fireworks, tossing five innings of two-run ball on Opening Day against Detroit, earning the win in a 4-2 victory that set the tone for L.A.’s championship defense. But baseball, ever the sadist, threw a curve: shoulder inflammation sidelined him after just two starts, landing him on the IL until August 2. When he returned, it was vintage Snell — a 2.35 ERA over 11 starts, 72 strikeouts in 61 innings, and a fastball that hummed at 97 mph like a freight train. His late-season surge was electric: a 1.42 ERA in September, including a 14-K gem against the Giants that had Dodger faithful chanting his name. Sure, the walks piled up (4.4 per nine innings, a Snell staple), and his overall FaBIO rating lagged behind Yamamoto’s elite 97 at a middling 55. But in the cauldron of October? That’s where Snell lives. His career playoff ERA sits at 3.81 across 37 1/3 innings, with 52 whiffs that make hitters look foolish. “I’ve got unfinished business,” Snell growled during his intro presser back in December, eyes locked on the cameras. “This uniform? It’s redemption wrapped in blue.”

The Dodgers, fresh off their 2024 title run built on bullpen duct tape and sheer willpower, didn’t just sign Snell for his highlight-reel stuff. They bet big on his edge — that blend of arrogance and artistry that won him Rookie of the Year honors in 2018 and turned the Padres’ 2022 NLDS into a personal showcase. Remember Game 4 against the Mets? Snell scattered four hits over seven innings, stranding runners like discarded trash. Or the 2020 World Series, where despite the pull, he became the first hurler in Fall Classic history to fan nine in under five frames. L.A.’s front office, led by the shrewd Andrew Friedman, saw a pitcher who thrives under the brightest lights, even if his regular-season quirks (hello, 5.25 career ERA) raise eyebrows. With $66 million deferred across the deal’s life, the financial gymnastics keep the luxury tax in check, freeing up cash for pursuits like Japanese ace Roki Sasaki or a reunion with Teoscar Hernández. Snell’s average annual value of $36.4 million slots him behind Ohtani’s galactic $70 million but ahead of Zack Wheeler’s $42 million, a testament to the Dodgers’ willingness to pay for proven October magic.

As the Wild Card curtain rises Tuesday night, Snell draws the Game 1 assignment against Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene, a matchup of flamethrowers where lefty bats have historically feasted on the Reds (.229/.300/.353 slash, 79 wRC+ against southpaws). It’s poetic irony: Snell, the man once “picked off” by managerial meddling, now holds the keys to Dodger destiny. Game 2 brings Yamamoto versus Zack Littell, with Ohtani lurking for a potential Game 3 bullpen skip. The Dodgers enter as heavy favorites (+400 World Series odds), their payroll ballooning past $300 million for competitive balance tax purposes, a record-shattering commitment to dominance. But amid the star power, it’s Snell’s narrative that crackles. Fans still whisper about that 2020 betrayal, the what-if of a deeper Rays run. Snell hears it all, channels it into fuel. “I’m not here to heal old wounds,” he said, flashing that trademark grin. “I’m here to open new ones — on the other guys.”

In a sport where history is etched in box scores and grudges, Snell’s Dodgers chapter feels predestined. Five years after the pull heard ’round the baseball world, he’s not just returning to the uniform that once bested him. He’s arming up to conquer it, one unhittable slider at a time. If the ghosts of Arlington are watching, they might want to look away. Blake Snell is done haunting — now, he’s the hunter.