In late November, 2-time Cy Young award winner Blake Snell and the Dodgers agreed to a 5-year deal. The Dodgers just won the World Series title in late October and it seems that they are not going to stop.
Blake Snell has a great career thus far. He made 211 starts so far, posting a 3.19 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Snell has 1368 strikeouts. Furthermore, he won the AL Cy Young award in 2018 and in 2023, he won the NL Cy Young award. This season, he made 20 starts for the Giants. He owned a 3.12 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP over 104 innings. Snell already showed that he’s one of the best pitchers in the majors. However, is this signing very important to the Dodgers?
Firstly, Blake Snell likes to pitch at Dodger stadium. By far in his career, he made 7 starts at Dodger stadium, posting a great 2.03 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP over 31 innings. In those 31 innings, he struck out 39 batters. It’s clear that Snell enjoys pitching at Dodger stadium and we have to remember that he was pitching against very good Dodgers lineups.
Blake Snell pitched for the Padres from 2021 to 2023 and in 2024, he pitched for the Giants. Hence, Snell certainly knows NL West rivals well. However, interestingly, he only pitched against the Padres once so far in his career and that game was in 2016. Nonetheless, he did face other teams in the NL West several times. He made 10 starts against the D-backs, posting a 1.99 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP over 54.1 innings. Nevertheless, in 2024, he made 2 starts against the D-backs, giving up 7 runs (6 earned) over 5.2 innings.
Snell faced the Giants 9 times from 2021 to 2023. He tossed 50.1 innings, posting a 1.61 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. He threw 72 strikeouts and the Giants batters only hit .170 against Snell.
In addition, Blake Snell made 13 starts against the Rockies. He tossed 71 innings, posting a 3.30 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. He made a start against the Rockies in 2024. He pitched well in 6 innings, giving up only 2 hits. Furthermore, he struck out 15 batters and didn’t allow any runs. Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that Snell has an ERA over 5 at Coors Field.
Finally, Blake Snell’s strikeout rate increased from 31.5% to 34.7%. Meanwhile, it’s hard to hit well against him. Snell’s hard-hit rate was only 28.9% in 2024. And another good news is that his walk rate dropped from 13.3% to 10.5%.
For the Dodgers, signing Blake Snell not only enhances the rotation but also helps their batters because they don’t have to face Snell anymore. In particular, only 2 pitchers from the Dodgers tossed more than 100 innings in 2024. Adding Snell in the rotation would be very useful. Nonetheless, Snell just turned 32 in December and he was placed on the IL several times over these several seasons. It’s very important for the Dodgers to monitor his health and make sure that he won’t miss many games.
No comments:
Post a Comment