It was in the third inning. Blake Snell upset the pitch while throwing to Aaron Judge. Though the pitch was called a ball, it seemed that the umpire was pointing at the Yankees’ slugger and saying to the pitcher like “look who’s hitting.”
This season is going wrong from the offseason for Blake Snell. The 2023 Cy Young pitcher first struggled to get a contract in the offseason. Though he finally ended up in San Francisco, his Giants career has so far been far away from his days in San Diego. His form for the Giants is a stark realization that the Yankees did right by not signing him.
Blake Snell fails to impact Yankees bats
In Sunday’s 7-5 loss to the Yankees, The two-time Cy Young winner threw 99 pitches before being removed with a 1-1 count on Alex Verdugo in the fifth inning, with the bases loaded and two outs. And above all, Blake Snell may be facing another stint on the injured list after leaving Sunday’s game against the Yankees with left groin tightness.
During Sunday’s game, Blake Snell allowed Juan Soto‘s solo homer in the first inning before struggling through traffic over the next three frames. He has not completed five innings in any of his six starts for the Giants and currently has the highest ERA among San Francisco’s starters.
Blake Snell is scheduled for an MRI on Monday to assess the severity following the left adductor strain that kept him out for a month earlier this season.
“It feels the same, so we’ll see,” he told reporters after the game. “The MRI will tell us and we’ll go from there. It’s definitely a bummer and frustrating, but got to look on to what’s next and attack that, get better and get back on the field.”
Giants manager Bob Melvin expressed concern that Blake Snell might be heading back to the IL based on his symptoms. “I don’t think he’s moving around worse than the last time, but it seems likely he’ll need to go on the IL,” Melvin commented after the team’s 7-5 loss.
The injury appeared to occur in the third inning when Blake Snell seemed to disrupt his delivery on a pitch to Yankees slugger Aaron Judge. Although the pitch was called a ball, the umpire gestured toward Judge, seemingly acknowledging the challenge of facing such a formidable hitter.
Blake Snell’s injury-plagued season with the Giants took another unfortunate turn as he had to leave Sunday’s start against the Yankees due to left groin tightness. The two-time Cy Young winner has struggled, having a 0-3 record and a 9.51 ERA over six starts since joining San Francisco on a $62 million, two-year deal as a free agent after winning the 2023 NL Cy Young with San Diego.
Blake Snell missed most of spring training following his late March signing and then spent almost a month on the injured list in April and May due to a left adductor strain. Additionally, he had a brief paternity leave stint awaiting the birth of his first child. Snell mentioned that the frequent interruptions have hindered his ability to reach peak performance.
Before Sunday’s setback, Blake Snell expressed that he believed he was making progress. He stated that a lot of positive developments had occurred in the last couple of weeks, leading him to feel optimistic. He mentioned that he thought they would eventually reach their goals and that he could remain where he was. Blake Snell noted that he had learned a great deal throughout the year, which he believed would assist him in returning to form more swiftly and eventually dominating.
However, Blake Snell expressed his disappointment regarding the latest groin issue, saying, “It sucks that this happened, but it happened. So face it head on and attack it and get back.”
The 31-year-old mentioned that this marked the fourth or fifth groin injury he had dealt with over the past three to four years, prompting him to reconsider his training regimen. According to Blake Snell, he needs to change or add something to his routine. He emphasized the need to incorporate strengthening exercises that he had previously neglected to ensure his muscles were better prepared for pitching 100 pitches per game. The pitcher acknowledged that he had much to learn but stressed the importance of getting stronger and preventing further injuries.
Yankees fans take potshots at Blake Snell
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
I was one of the VERY FEW Yankees fans that said ABSOLUTELY NOT! to signing the Vastly Overrated Blake Snell.
You fans who REACT RATHER THAN THINK, like the Incomparably STUPID Brainless Brian Cashman, need to look at a man’s overall performance — throughout his career — before you Brainlessly Demand that the Yankees sign someone.
As I noted multiple times, here & on mlbtraderumors.com, Snell, even at his best, is basically a glorified Long Reliever. This is what I wrote about Snell on February 29, 2023, on this site:
“Unlike most fans, apparently, I’m quite content with Clarke Schmidt as our 5th starter; in fact, I prefer it to spending an obscene amount on Snell, who’s performance over the years have been highly erratic, while pitching 134 innings per year, on average, over his career, after excluding the shortened Covid season.”
Can you imagine how FURIOUS Yankee fans would be now if Snell was costing us somewhere in the range of $55 Million to $63 Million this year (with the 110% added tax)? You folks would be going NUTS.
But Snell’s performance this year was HIGHLY PREDICTABLE. He was Medicare to AWFUL after he won his first Cy Young, pitching 107 innings with a 4.29 ERA & a 6-8 record in 2019.
Then in the 2020 Covid season, he was 4-2 with a 3.24 ERA in 50 innings: good, but NOT great. Cole, by comparison, was 7-3 with a 2.84 ERA in 73 innings: that’s what great looks like. Yet some of you nitwits wanted to pay $19-$27 Million MORE for Snell, than for Cole. Really? “How dumb is you?” as Jon Stewart recently joked on another subject.
Then in 2021, Snell was 7-6 with a 4.20 ERA in just 128.2 IP. Oooh, impressive, huh? Yea, let’s pay $55MM-$63MM for that crap.
And in 2022, Snell was 8-10 with a 3.38 ERA in just 128 IP.
Snell had 4 Straight Seasons of Mediocre to Mostly BAD years after winning his 1st Cy Young.
And now in 2024, following his second Cy Young, Snell is 0-3 with a 9.51 ERA, and he’s on his 2nd trip to the IL. What a surprise, right. NO! only if you’re a Moron, like Brian Cashman.
So, to all those Yankees fans — including the Exceedingly Stupid Brian Cashman, who wanted to give Snell $150MM, plus the 110% additional tax — STOP BEING F-ING IDIOTS & do a deep dive on a player’s performance over his career. Look at his record over his career & look at his Splits for indications about what type of player (pitcher or hitter) the man really is.
Had you done that with Snell, you would have realized he was a Disaster Waiting to Happen.
I’m laughing my butt off that the Giants, instead of Brainless Brian & the Yankees, are the latest victims of Snell’s injuries & poor performance after winning a Cy Young.
Btw, there were multiple Yankee fans (on various sites) who argued that 5.1 IP a start, like Snell historically does, is better than 99% of the pitchers in MLB. NO IT’S NOT! as the above career stats for Snell show. Length & Performance matter from a starter, which is why Cole is so great.
Moreover, this year should have shown Every Yankee Fan How Important it is for pitchers to go 6 or more innings in a start.
When did the Yankees go on their run of Dominance this year? When the pitchers started giving us More Than a Pathetic 4.2 to 5.1 IP per start.
A myriad of Moronic Theories have been put forward as “facts” in baseball the past 6-10 years, all of which have been proven Wrong:
* Batting average doesn’t matter: BS! BA matters a hell of a lot, as the Yankees improved offense with Verdugo & Soto shows. Hitting for average creates FAR MORE scoring opportunities.
* OBP matters more than average: Complete & Utter BS! They both matter, when viewed together! Unless, of course, you’d like a reunion with Joey Gallo.
* Pitchers must throw in the upper 90s to be great MLB pitchers: Complete BS! Stroman shows what utter BS that is. Smart pitchers who throw in the 80s to low 90s — like Greg Maddox and Mel Stottlemyre of days gone by — can be Significantly Better than most guys who throw in the upper 90s.
Hopefully, Yankee fans will learn from the Snell case. Knee Jerk reactions, like sign Snell for $55MM, are called Knee Jerk reactions because Only Jerks Make Them . . . like Brian Cashman (one last dig on the idiot ;-).
I wanted to add that I enjoyed the article immensely, but I take issue with the headline (chosen by an editor, I presume because I was a newspaper reporter in my 20s).
The headline is disingenuous, there was NO “foresight” on Brian Cashman’s part. Cashman foolishly offered Snell a $150MM contract, which would have cost the Yankees $55MM or more in year 1 of the deal, and, worse yet, it might have precluded the Yankees from re-signing Soto next year. (Dumb as ever, Brian!)
This situation is an excellent example of Brainless Brian’s utter stupidity. He wanted Snell, NOT Stroman, who’s been a Godsend, unlike Snell, who’s presumably Satan-sent.
The Yankees were spared from experiencing Yet Another Dumb*** Move by Brainless Brian* because of Snell & Boras’ greed, to which all Yankee fans should say “Thank you for your stupidity.”
* For further evidence of Brian’s Brainlessness, see the Donaldson, IKF, BADer, Montas, & Gallo trades.
And then there are the trades Brainless didn’t make, like NOT getting rid of Torres & allowing Justin Verlander to go to the Astros in a 2017 deadline deal. If the Yankees had gotten Verlander, they, NOT the Astros, would have gone to the World Series in 2017, even if the Astros cheated.
So, Brainless Brian may well have cost us our 28th World Championship, yet he still somehow has a job. Unbelievable!