Blake Snell Did Something for First Time in San Francisco Giants Jersey on Tuesday

The San Francisco Giants got their ace back on the mound Tuesday, and he just did something for the first time during his tenure with the team.

Jul 9, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Blake Snell (7) delivers a pitch against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning at Oracle Park / Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports

Throughout the offseason, there was a clear approach by the San Francisco Giants to upgrade their roster and turn this team into playoff contenders once again.

They landed plenty of high-profile free agents, but they put a cap on their incoming group when they signed Matt Chapman and Blake Snell late in the process.

The reigning Cy Young winner was expected to be a major addition to their rotation, pairing him with Logan Webb to give them an elite one-two punch.

Unfortunately, the results have been anything but that.

Snell has struggled throughout his entire tenure with the Giants, posting an uncharacteristically inflated ERA that has been marred by two separate injured list stints. He was vocal about his frustrations with his performance throughout the year, and even subtly hinted he might have previously been rushed back into action too soon.

All the alarm bells can be quieted with a good performance, though, and that is what the left-hander was aiming to do when he returned to the mound on Tuesday.

To make a playoff push and put themselves in a position where they hold onto their pieces instead of becoming sellers at the deadline, San Francisco needs Snell to be at the top of his game.

They got that on Tuesday.

The lefty delivered a vintage performance, throwing five scoreless innings where he gave up only one hit and struck out three batters.

His outing saw him do something for the first time in a Giants uniform.

Blake Snell is through five innings for the first time as a Giant. He looks like Blake Snell again.

— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) July 10, 2024

San Francisco had him on a pitch count in his first game back, so his night was done after those five frames and 73 pitches, but he flashed the potential he can bring to this rotation.

Outside of his deepest outing with his new team, he also accomplished something for the first time all season when he topped out at 97.7 mph on his fastball.

That is crucial to the success Snell will have throughout the remainder of the year as it sets up the rest of his pitches and will allow him to start striking out batters at a high clip like he usually does.

Overall, this was a positive sign for the Giants and offers them some hope that their prized offseason acquisition can become an impact player for them like initially expected.