Blake Snell

On August 21, Snell set a new MLB record with his 13th straight start allowing one earned run or fewer at home.

After he allowed two runs at home against the Baltimore Orioles, his streak ended at 14.

Blake Ashton Snell (born December 4, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent.

He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padres.

The Rays selected Snell in the first round of the 2011 MLB draft and he made his MLB debut with the Rays in 2016.

The Tampa Bay Rays selected Snell in the first round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft.

He signed with the Rays and made his professional debut with the Gulf Coast Rays, where he was 1–2 with a 3.08 ERA in 11 games (eight starts).

He spent 2012 with the Princeton Rays, pitching to a 5–1 record and a 2.09 ERA in 11 starts, and 2013 with the Bowling Green Hot Rods where he compiled a 4–9 record and a 4.27 ERA in 23 starts.

Snell started 2014 with Bowling Green and was promoted to the Charlotte Stone Crabs in May.

On August 2, he pitched a rain-shortened no-hitter against the Daytona Cubs.

It was the first no-hitter in Stone Crabs history.

In 24 total games started between the two clubs, he was 8–8 with a 3.19 ERA.

After the season, he was named the Rays Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

Snell started 2015 with the Stone Crabs and was promoted to the Montgomery Biscuits after allowing no runs in 21 innings to start the season.

He was later promoted to the Durham Bulls.

In 25 games (23 starts) between the three clubs, he was 15–4 with a 1.41 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP.

The Rays added him to their 40-man roster after the season.

Snell began the 2016 season with Durham.

Snell was promoted to the major leagues to make his debut on April 23, 2016, at Yankee Stadium.

His first inning showed jitters, as he allowed a run off of a wild pitch, but he calmed down after that, striking out the side in the second inning, and retired 12 of the last 14 batters he faced.

Through the 2016 season for Tampa, Snell made 19 starts, finishing with a 6–8 record, 3.54 ERA, and 98 strikeouts over 89 innings.

At the beginning of the 2017 season, Snell failed to work into the sixth inning in almost all of his first eight games, and was routinely touching 100 pitches in the fourth inning.

After posting an ERA of 4.71 through eight starts in 2017, he was demoted to Durham on May 13.

On June 28, Snell was recalled and his turnaround was evident.

After July 23, Snell went 5–1 with a 3.31 ERA to finish the season with 24 starts, recording 119 strikeouts over 129 1⁄3 innings with a 4.04 ERA.

He won the Cy Young Award in the American League (AL) in 2018, when he was an All-Star and led the league in both wins and earned run average (ERA).

The Rays traded Snell to the Padres before the 2021 season and he won his second Cy Young Award in 2023.

Snell attended Shorewood High School in Shoreline, Washington, where he played for the baseball team.

In high school, he trained at a facility owned by his father, a former minor league baseball player.

In his senior season, Snell recorded a 9–0 win–loss record, a 1.00 earned run average (ERA) with 128 strikeouts in over 63 innings pitched.

Snell opened the 2018 season as the number two starter, behind Chris Archer.

On June 3, he tied an AL record by striking out the first seven batters he faced in a game against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field.

Snell ended the game allowing no runs in six innings and recorded 12 strikeouts.

This was his first career start at Safeco Field in front of many of his friends and family, an estimated 300, including the first professional start witnessed by his grandfather, whom he considers a mentor.

At the time of the All-Star team announcement, Snell was 12–4 with a 2.09 ERA, the lowest of all qualified pitchers in the American League.

Despite his success, he was not named to the original AL roster.

This led to wide criticism of the selection process by players, coaches, fans, and analysts.

After Corey Kluber opted out of the All-Star game due to injury, Snell was named his replacement, ending the controversy and awarding him his first career All-Star appearance.

On July 23, Snell was put on the 10-day disabled list with shoulder fatigue.

He was reactivated on August 4 against the Chicago White Sox.