Padres News: Bob Melvin Believes Blake Snell Can Finally Get Off to Good Start

Padres skipper believes his lefty ace will have a better 2023 campaign

The San Diego Padres are one of the early favorites to capture their first title in franchise history, and reasonably so. The Friars have the star power and rotation to make another deep playoff run as they did last season. 

San Diego has a deep rotation, and one of their pitchers looking to have a great season is lefty Blake Snell. Snell will be entering his third season as a Padre; however, he has not been the lights out starter that he was with the Tampa Bay Rays. 

The reason for that has been his slow starts in San Diego, but he's looking to change that in 2023. 

Padres manager Bob Melvin spoke to the media and said he expects Snell to have a great start this season. 

"He had a history of getting off to some rough starts and then being about as good as anybody. I think there are a lot of reasons for him to be motivated this year to have a good year. I think he started his process a little bit earlier, and certainly, his mental process about each game is going to be the same for him whether it's game one or game 25. I expect him to get off to a little better start this year."

Padres manager Bob Melvin was asked about what he expects from Blake Snell this season.

Melvin: "He's come in I think with a little different focus about 162." pic.twitter.com/2zxqHRHODy

— 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) March 4, 2023

Looking at 2022 alone, Snell didn't get his first win until early July after starting in nine games. In May and June, the lefty had a plus-four ERA and allowed 24 runs. 

From July till the end of the season, Snell gave up only 27 runs in 17 starts. 

Overall, Snell went 8-10 with a 3.38 ERA and struck out 171 in 128 innings and 24 games. 

The 30-year-old will look to put the demons of early woes to bed and put his team in a great position to capture their first division title in over a decade-plus.