Padres News: Blake Snell Doesn’t Know If He’ll Pitch Again This Season

A tremendous final start if this is it.

After another dominant start against the Giants earlier this week, Padres starter Blake Snell seemed unsure if the game would be his last for 2023. 

The likely NL Cy Young candidate after this season remained hesitant on pitching another game for the team with just a few remaining. 

“We’ll figure that out in the next couple days,” Snell said. “Right now, though, I’m really happy with how I’ve finished the season so far.”

via A.J. Cassavell, MLB.com

The Seattle native picked the right time to have his best year since 2018 as the impending free agent likely wrapped up the second Cy Young of his career with a sparkling finish. 

If his most recent start wrapped a bow on his dominant 2023 campaign, what a year it was for the soon-to-be 31-year-old hurler. 

Healthy and consistent all season long, Snell has tossed 180 innings with a minuscule 2.25 ERA and 234 strikeouts on the year. 

Detractors may cite his high walk rate as a knock against his case for the award but a recent hot streak this late into the season should quell those doubts. 

Snell's surrendered only two runs across his last six starts of the year and struck out at least seven batters in every single one of them. 

Holding batters without a run in five of those six starts, the former Ray capped off a brilliant year with at least six innings of work in each game. 

Whether or not he returns to San Diego remains to be seen, but Snell's contributions to the 2023 team cannot be overstated in the slightest. 

For a rotation missing Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish and Michael Wacha at various points in the year, Snell's consistent presence and overall dominance could mean the NL Cy Young in his trophy case.