Blake SnellI just wanted another chance face the Dodgers range. With the World Series online in October last year, Snell never got it. But he will see a lot of that range in the coming seasons as a new element of Padres and it goes without saying, given his never-supporting personality, he is looking forward to it.
“I can’t wait to play Dodgers“Snell said Wednesday was the day Padres players and captains reported to the Peoria Sports Complex.” I’m incredibly talented. We have incredible talent … It will be a lot of fun. Every party. “
Snell, of course, was eliminated from Game 6 of the World Series in the sixth inning while working on a shutout. Two months later, he was transferred from Tampa Bay to San Diego in exchange for four prospects. As such, it took on a “first day of school” atmosphere for Snell on Wednesday. He says it’s “terrible for the name”, but there are at least a few familiar faces in the club.
Snell was one of the top three rotation acquisitions for the Padres this winter, along with Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove. If you consider Dinelson Lamet and Chris Paddack, Snell says he would take this rotation over anyone else in baseball, including the Dodgers.
“They have boys, so it’s going to be a lot of fun going against them,” Snell said. “But I choose my team every time. I think we’re fine.”
Snell’s workload for the 2021 season was a major topic of conversation on Day 1. The 28-year-old left-hander won the AL Cy Young Award in 2018, but did so in 180 2/3 innings, the most What you realized. thrown in a season.
Coming out of a short 2020 season, Snell acknowledged its limits and predicted between 150 and 180 innings – “and then the postseason”. This seems to be in line with what parents are looking for. They made it clear that they would treat their pitchers with caution from the beginning.
But Padres’ game plans for Snell are more remarkable. Since his Cy Young award-winning campaign, he has gone through only six times in the sixth inning. This is partly the product of a few wounds, but it is also a principle of organization.
It seems that Padres may be more open to using Snell beyond some of its previous limitations.
“When he’s healthy, he’s right and everything’s fine, he’s one of the best players in the game,” said manager Jayce Tingler. “We’re very confident he’ll be able to do that. But that’s what we need to work on.”
Snell is completely on board with this plan. He expects a slow progression at the beginning of the season, but he also looks forward to when the reins are free.
“I want to see what’s in me and the only way to really see it is to deepen the games,” Snell said. “When you start to get a little more tired and you have to struggle with some things and try to be cool, I think that’s what excites me the most.”
Who knows? Maybe even against the Dodgers. He would definitely enjoy it.
“I know what this rivalry was like,” Snell said. “I know he’s been a bit of a fighter lately, that … I’m here for all this.”
Snell joked that last spring he said “thank you” to the Red Sox when they changed Mookie Betts from AL East. Now that he’s back in the division with the Dodgers right-hander, he said, “Thank you.”
However, Snell made it clear that he was looking forward to the challenge. He prefers the Dodgers to launch a monster, because he prefers to defeat a monster.
This winter, while the Padres and Dodgers were trading moves, Snell was the first domino to fall. From the moment he landed in San Diego, he watched the two clubs make the headlines. The Padres further improved their rotation with Darvish and Musgrove, then the Dodgers improved theirs with Trevor Bauer. Padre signed Ha-Seong Kim and Jurickson Profar, then the Dodgers brought Justin Turner back. Both teams joined the bullpens.
“Padre started quickly, they quickly threw a few troublemakers,” Snell said. “Then the Dodgers followed some big troublemakers. It is interesting. That’s why baseball is. Make the best team you can make and do everything you can to win.
“It’s going to be a fun series that everyone wants to see. That’s what it’s about.”
AJ Cassavell / MLB.com