Padres News: Blake Snell Wants to Win the NL Cy Young Award This Year

Snell is at the top of his game.

Few pitchers, if any, have been better than Blake Snell of the San Diego Padres this season.

In 28 starts, the 30-year-old holds a major league-best ERA of 2.50 with a 1.35 WHIP and 201 strikeouts, good for third-most in baseball.

While the Padres' chances of hoisting the Commissioner's Trophy come October are low, Snell is the current favorite to win the National League Cy Young award, given to the league's top pitcher.

As an upcoming free agent, the Padres could be facing their final days with Snell on the roster. Manager Bob Melvin knows how special of a performance Snell is putting on, game in and game out.

"His body of work now for months has been pretty extreme," said Padres manager Bob Melvin. "It seems dominant every time he goes out on the mound. ... I haven't seen some of these other guys as much. But watching games every day, I don't know that I've seen better."

(Via

MLB.com

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The main argument against Snell's case for the Cy Young centers around his walks. With 89 walks, the Padres' ace is tied for the most walks in baseball. However, Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla laughs off any concerns over Snell's walk frequency.

"I've got a guy here that has

stuff

," Niebla said. "The message is: Go get outs. It's not: Don't walk people. Walks are part of the game, and you have the stuff to be able to pitch through walks. We're not going to talk about walks. We actually laugh about walks."

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MLB.com

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As the season begins to fall apart for a Padres team that is running out of time for a playoff push, Snell is still focused on the best-case scenario. But he certainly wouldn't mind taking home a bit of hardware at the end of the season.

“Obviously I'm going to chase [a Cy Young award],” Snell said. “Getting to the playoffs would mean a lot, first. But yeah, the Cy Young is always the goal for everyone. You want to be the best pitcher you can be. That award kind of clarifies that. I'm chasing that, because I'm chasing greatness.”

(Via

MLB.com

)