Matt Loede
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Former AL Cy Young award winner Blake Snell was on the verge of history Tuesday as a member of the San Diego Padres.
Snell, who won the Cy Young as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays back in 2018, was pulled after seven no-hit innings and 107 pitches.
The Padres led the game at the time 3-0, and pulled out the win despite the no-hitter going by the wayside when Arizona’s David Peralta had a bloop single fall into shallow left field.
Snell looked as strong as he has at any point in 2021, striking out 10 and walking a pair in the win.
“It’s just smart,” Snell said about being taken out of the game.
“Is it really worth going 140, 130 pitches to try to get it? … You’ve got to be smart. We need to win games, and I put the team in a great position to win — seven innings, no runs, and we got the win.”
This season Snell is 7-5 with a 4.31 ERA, starting in 25 games with 159 strikeouts.
Earlier this year the Padres recorded their first no-hitter in franchise history when Joe Musgrove shutdown the Texas Rangers.
San Diego has been around since 1969 meaning the franchise had to wait 52 years to see a no-hitter celebration.
They nearly were able to celebrate a second no-hitter Tuesday, but Snell himself felt it was the right decision to get pulled.
Pathetic. Pitch counts are one of the ruinators of baseball. Bob Gibson, Nolan Ryan, and Frank Tanana mock you.
The reason I don’t watch baseball much anymore. The only reason to watch baseball is for those uncommon events & potential history making accomplishments that might happen TODAY…not some injury that might happen in a month. Any pitcher who has a no hitter and doesn’t fight for the damn ball is a soft loser. I don’t ever want to hear his name anymore…the world has enough cowering sissies disguised as professional athletes.
Snell has all the talent one could dream of to be a great MLB pitcher. He put it together for one 2018 Cy Young season…then he got paid. Ever since he turned into the “me” guy. Now he’s posting a 4.31 ERA and leading the league in walks. He showed his colors last year when he openly whined about having to play during covid for a reduced gigantic salary as millions of Americans had just lost their jobs. So, nah, I probably wouldn’t expect a player like him to try to push himself…ever.
107 is a little high for 7 innings if you’re going all the way, but Blake Snell isn’t 22 years old. He’s also not 42. At 28 you can totally do 130 or 140 pitches to finish out a no hitter. Not all the time for sure, but occasionally absolutely.