"Blake Snell is in the midst of a stellar postseason for the Los Angeles Dodgers, yielding a 0.86 ERA over 21 innings pitched across three starts thus far. The two-time Cy Young Award winner only made 11 starts in his first season with the Dodgers due to a left shoulder injury, but he was still highly effective. Snell finished with a 2.35 ERA, and 72 strikeouts in 61.1 innings pitched during the regular season. His 10.5% walk rate and 3.81 walks per nine innings were well within career averages of 10.2% and 3.82, respectively."
""I've just been labeled a wild pitcher. But I've never felt that's ever been true. But like my last three years have been pretty consistent. And I could throw the ball, do what I want with the ball. "But the narrative's always been, 'He's a wild pitcher, he walks a lot of guys.' I laugh at it because I know it's not true. I know that, because I'm the one throwing the ball.""
"Looking at walk statistics in a vacuum doesn't directly correlate to a lack of command because there can be added context. In certain situations, it could be more beneficial for a pitcher to work around a batter rather than be aggressive in the strike zone. An elite pitcher will be able to pick his battles wisely and execute when he has the advantage. In Snell's case, he had the worst walk numbers of his career during his second Cy Young-season in 2023, but stranded 86.7% of runners who reached base against him."
Blake Snell posted a 0.86 ERA across 21 postseason innings in three starts for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was limited to 11 regular-season starts by a left shoulder injury but still recorded a 2.35 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 61.1 innings. His 10.5% walk rate and 3.81 walks per nine matched career norms. Career strike percentage has been near league average, about 62% across the past four seasons excluding 2023. Walk totals can reflect strategy rather than poor command, and Snell stranded 86.7% of runners in 2023 despite high walk numbers.
Read at Dodger Blue
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]