BIOGRAPHY
Blake Snell was born December 4, 1992, in Seattle, Washington. He is a pitcher in the MLB.
The Tampa Bay Rays selected Snell in the first round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Rays and made his professional debut with the Gulf Coast Rays, where he was 1–2 with a 3.08 ERA in 11 games (eight starts). He spent 2012 with the Princeton Rays, pitching to a 5–1 record and a 2.09 ERA in 11 starts, and 2013 with the Bowling Green Hot Rods where he compiled a 4–9 record and a 4.27 ERA in 23 starts.
Snell opened the 2018 season as the number two starter, behind Chris Archer. On June 3, he tied an AL record by striking out the first seven batters he faced in a game against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field. Snell ended the game allowing no runs in six innings and recorded 12 strikeouts. This was his first career start at Safeco Field in front of many of his friends and family, an estimated 300, including the first professional start witnessed by his grandfather, whom he considers a mentor.
At the time of the All-Star team announcement, Snell was 12–4 with a 2.09 ERA, the lowest of all qualified pitchers in the American League. Despite his success, he was not named to the original AL roster. This led to wide criticism of the selection process by players, coaches, fans, and analysts. After Corey Kluber opted out of the All-Star game due to injury, Snell was named his replacement, ending the controversy and awarding him his first career All-Star appearance.
Snell finished his breakout season leading the majors in wins (21), adjusted ERA+ (219), and batting average against (.178), as well as leading the American League in earned run average (1.89) and wins above replacement among pitchers (7.5). His 1.89 ERA was the lowest in the American League since Pedro Martinez posted a 1.74 in 2000, and the third-lowest in the AL since the designated hitter was introduced in 1973. He allowed two or fewer runs in 27 of his 31 starts and one or zero runs in 21 starts. Against the American League's five playoff teams, he went 9–2 with a 2.00 ERA. He led all major league pitchers in left on base percentage, stranding 88.0% of base runners. For the season, he also had the lowest percentage of balls pulled against him (33.8%) among major league pitchers, and led major league pitchers in lowest contact percentage (66.6%).
Snell won the 2018 American League Cy Young Award, topping runner-up Justin Verlander by 15 points (169–154) and receiving 17 of 30 first-place votes. He became the second Rays pitcher to win the award, after Price in 2012.
On December 29, 2020, the Rays traded Snell to the San Diego Padres in exchange for prospects Luis Patiño, Blake Hunt, and Cole Wilcox, along with catcher Francisco Mejía. For the Padres, Snell slotted in as the team's number 2 pitcher. Snell regressed a bit in 2021, as he ended the year with a 7-6 record, and a 4.20 ERA over 27 starts. Snell initially had trouble going deep into games, not completing six innings until his ninth start of the year. After two more starts where he failed to get out of the fourth inning, Snell pitched seven shut-out innings against the Mets on June 4, giving up only one hit. Snell missed a pair of starts in the summer due to a bout with food poisoning. Snell finished strong, posting a 1.83 ERA is his final eight starts of the year, including seven innings of no-hit ball against the Diamondbacks on August 31.
Snell earned the Cy Young award for the 2023 season.
Snell signed a two year deal with the San Francisco Giants starting in 2024.
