San Francisco Giants New Ace Discusses Surprising Reason For Struggles In Debut

It seems like the San Francisco Giants new ace knows why he struggled in his debut and shared the interesting reason behind it.

Apr 8, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Blake Snell (7) pitches against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Oracle Park. / Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco Giants put together a sneaky-good offseason despite not generating many headlines compared to others around the league.

They landed one of the top international players on the market in Jung-hoo Lee, the best third baseman available in Matt Chapman, and added the reigning National League Cy Young winner Blake Snell.

Because the Snell deal came so late in the process, he had to ramp up before starting out with the Giants.

His team debut came against the Washington Nationals on Monday, and things didn't quite go as planned when the star left-hander gave up three earned runs across his three innings of work. The strikeout specialist was able to fan five batters as well.

Snell gave a reason for the shaky performance that saw him throw 72 pitches in his first action.

"Honestly it was just weird. I haven't faced any big league hitters ... so I was being more careful than I usually would. I usually just throw it over the plate, just let it kinda eat ... and then I was really amped up too. I was really excited to pitch, so bad combination I guess," he told NBC Sports Bay Area.

The rust he showed shouldn't too much of a surprise or concern considering he didn't go through a normal Spring Training that would have allowed him to get his body ready for the season, however, Snell has shown in the past that he follows up his elite seasons with poor ones.

San Francisco is hoping to avoid that cycle.

The good news is that, despite not performing the way he might have wanted, the Cy Young winner feels confident about where his game currently sits.

"I'm excited about where I'm at and how the ball is coming out. I'm only going to get better. It's only going to get more crisp. The first game, I'm happy it's out of the way. There's a lot to learn from it ...," he added.

Snell will take the mound next against his first team in the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, April 14.