San Diego Padres lefty Blake Snell. Kyodo News

Padres pitcher Blake Snell continues to make a strong case for NL Cy Young

By Nicholas Nathanson | Last updated 9/8/23

While the 2022-23 season has been a challenging one for the San Diego Padres, it has been anything but for Padres starting pitcher Blake Snell, who not only continues to impress, but has also warranted serious NL Cy Young award consideration.

Friday, facing the Astros, Snell impressed once again. Across six innings, the 30-year-old lefty ace allowed two runs on five hits, striking out eight and surrendering three walks. Snell earned his 13th win of the season as the Padres beat the Astros 11-2.

Since falling to 1-6 with a 5.40 ERA on May 19, Snell has been arguably the best pitcher in the league, reducing his ERA nearly three points to a league-leading 2.50 ERA.

Across the month of June, Snell posted a 0.87 ERA.

Then, in July, he posted a 0.56 ERA.

While his numbers slipped a bit in August, he has continued to impress. Snell is second in the league with 209 strikeouts, behind Atlanta Braves pitcher Spencer Strider.

That’s 2 runs or fewer allowed by Blake Snell in 18 of his last 20 starts with 3 or fewer in all 20.
— Greg Peterson (@GUnit_81) September 9, 2023

The lefty ace previously won the AL Cy Young award with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018 and is looking to become just the seventh pitcher ever to win the award in both the AL and NL.

As the season has gone on Snell has looked more and more like the 2018 version of himself. That will do him favors in the voting, especially with just a few starts left on the season. If he continue his strong play through his last few starts of the season, he may have some hardware to show for his efforts.

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