San Francisco Giants Left-Hander Named NL Pitcher of the Month

The San Francisco Giants had one of their starting pitchers named as the NL PItcher of the Month by MLB.com.

Aug 23, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; San Francisco Giants starter Blake Snell (7) delivers a pitch during the third inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. / Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

With the San Francisco Giants being in the last month of the MLB season, their chances of making the playoffs aren’t looking good. However, they are still trying to win games and play spoiler in the National League.

In the month of August, the Giants were one-game over .500, as they had a 14-13 record. While a winning month was great to see, it wasn’t enough to help them gain any ground in the extremely competitive National League Wild Card race.

Due to the Giants never really having an excellent month at any point this season, it is easy to see why they have been hovering around the .500 mark for most of 2024. While they might not make the playoffs, they did see one of their starting pitchers have an excellent month.

Left-hander Blake Snell was able to put together one of the best months we will see from any pitcher in any month in August.

Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru of MLB.com recently spoke about the performance of Snell in the month of August, naming him the National League Pitcher of the Month.

“Snell kicked off the month by finally completing a no-hitter, having lost several previous attempts to high pitch counts. He walked three and struck out 11 in his historic performance in Cincinnati on Aug. 2 and just kept rolling from there. Among pitchers with at least 20 IP in August, Snell ranked second in the National League in ERA (1.64) and WHIP (0.83) and led all pitchers with 53 strikeouts while allowing just one home run.”

It was a slow start to the season for Snell, as he didn’t sign with the Giants until very late in the offseason, which likely affected him being ready right out of the gate. However, despite the slow start, Snell has been firing on all cylinders as of late.

In August, Snell totaled a 2-0 record, 1.64 ERA, and 53 strikeouts in 38.1 innings pitched. The no-hitter to start the month likely helped Snell seal the recognition, but he continued to be excellent throughout the rest of the month.

If Snell was pitching like he was now and didn’t miss time to start the season, the Giants might have been in a very different position. Unfortunately, for the Giants now, the great season by Snell will likely result in him opting out of his contract and testing the free agency waters once again.

In the month of August, Snell was certainly deserving of being named the best pitcher in the league. Now, we will wait to see what September holds for the talented southpaw.