The American League hasn't had a repeat Cy Young Award winner since Pedro Martinez in 1999-2000. That would seem to bode poorly for Tampa Bay Rays ace Blake Snell's chances of winning the Cy this fall as he did last, but good luck telling him that. On Saturday, Snell made his fourth start of the season and notched yet another high-quality performance (box score).
Snell threw six innings, holding the Toronto Blue Jays without a hit until the sixth inning. He did walk a batter, but struck out nine and kept Toronto off the board. Snell threw only 82 pitches and presumably could have gone deeper into the game. If he had, he may have claimed his third win of the season. Instead, Tampa Bay relievers Chaz Roe and Jalen Beeks coughed up three runs in two innings, dooming Snell to a no-decision and the Rays as a whole to a loss.
You can check out more from Saturday's action around the league in our MLB roundup.
Snell has done well to right the ship following a difficult Opening Day assignment that saw him yield five runs in six innings against the Houston Astros. In his three starts since, he's permitted one run on nine hits and two walks across 19 innings. He's done that while fanning 33 batters.
In a sense, Saturday's domination was more of the same for Snell. In some regards, however, it was a little different. For instance, Snell entered the game having thrown about 40 percent fastballs on the season, per Statcast. Against the Blue Jays, 40 of his 82 pitches were heaters -- a ratio closer to last year's full-season mark of 51.5 percent. Snell generated 19 swinging strikes, with seven of those coming off the fastball. His curveball, his best bat-missing weapon, also induced seven empty swings on just 23 tosses.
As for the seemingly premature hook, that's become commonplace in Snell's starts.
Dating back to his return from the injured last August, Snell has now made 15 starts and averaged 21 batters faced and 89 pitches per pop. Lest anyone think those numbers are skewed by his appearances immediately following his comeback, he's been permitted to face 24 or more hitters just three times -- and has been allowed up over the century mark (but no further than 104) seven times. For reference, prior to the stay on the IL, Snell had averaged 24 batters faced and 98 pitches per contest over his first 20 starts.
Perhaps the Rays believe a reduced workload will keep Snell healthier and fresher as the season wears on. Based on how Snell is pitching right now, if they're right then he just might do something no one has in two decades.
