(Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Blake Snell won the 2018 AL Cy Young award when he was a member of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Five years later, he is presented with a great opportunity: winning the award in the National League, as the ace of the San Diego Padres.
As of Thursday afternoon, the left-hander leads the National League among qualified starters with a 2.65 ERA.
“2023 NL ERA Leaders: Blake Snell (2.65), Justin Steele (2.79), Merrill Kelly (3.05), Zac Gallen (3.24),” Baseball Reference tweeted.
2023 NL ERA Leaders:
Blake Snell (2.65)
Justin Steele (2.79)
Merrill Kelly (3.05)
Zac Gallen (3.24)
All Leaders: https://t.co/iDsICcT5gO pic.twitter.com/FRzHakW3Af
— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) August 17, 2023
All the pitchers mentioned in the Baseball Reference tweet have at least a slight chance to win the award, although Gallen and Snell should be considered the favorites.
Spencer Strider is another potential candidate, as is Logan Webb.
Unlike what is happening with the AL MVP award – Ohtani is running away with it – the rest of them, including the NL Cy Young, are pretty much still open for discussion.
For his part, Snell is 10-8 with the 2.65 ERA in 136 innings this season.
The only flaw of his Cy Young case would be the high amount of walks in his profile: 78 to be precise.
However, he has also struck out a whopping 176 batters and that shows how dominant he is.
Can Snell join Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Roy Halladay, and Max Scherzer as the only pitchers in the history of the game to win the Cy Young award in both leagues?
He will need to be brilliant in the latter stages of the season to seal his case.
However, we know what he is capable of.
The post Blake Snell Continues To Hold An Elite NL Mark appeared first on The Cold Wire.