SNELL FRUSTRATED WITH COMMAND
Blake Snell forced himself out of the game this time.
Facing the Dodgers for the first time since Game 6 of the World Series, when Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash famously removed him in the sixth inning after Snell had allowed just his second hit, Snell threw too many pitches early in Sunday’s game to make it past the fifth inning.
“There’s lot of things I did wrong, a lot of things I did right,” the left-hander said after the Padres’ 5-2 victory. “I just need to get my pitches in the zone a lot better. A lot of 3-2 counts, a lot of 3-0 counts to start. There’s a lot of stuff that is frustrating me. I know I can throw in the zone whenever I want. A lot to be frustrated with just with the command of my pitches.”
By many measures, Snell was excellent Sunday. He struck out seven and allowed two runs on two hits. He retired 11 of the final 13 batters he faced.
But he threw 95 pitches in his five innings. Eight of the 19 batters he faced went to a full count. He fell behind 3-0 to two batters in the first inning
and issued a four-pitch walk in the third.
The Dodgers are adept at not chasing pitches outside the zone and prolonging atbats with fouls. But this has been a season-long issue for Snell, who has gone to a full count 17 times, tied for most in the majors.
One of the main themes to this season for Snell is that he is finally set free after five seasons with the Rays,
who prefer pitchers don’t face another team’s hitters three times in a game.
Snell lacks one component of an ace’s résumé. The 28-year-old left-hander averages barely more than five innings a start in his career.
He did not make it through six innings in any of his 17 starts (including the postseason) in 2020 and has pitched into the seventh inning just twice since 2019. He has never gone more than 71⁄3 innings in any of his 112 career starts.
“I’m going to start going deeper in ballgames, and that’s my focus,” he said. “I know what I need to do.”
He was pleased with one particular thing that happened Sunday. That was simply facing the Dodgers.
“I’m happy to get this start out of the way so I don’t have to watch Game 6 37,000 times a day,” he said, alluding to how much the game has been dissected on sports talk shows. “I’m kind of over that. By pitching against them today, hopefully that calms down and we can start getting back into (regular) season baseball.
“I just like playing against the best. It’s the only chance you can really see what’s inside, see what you got and how good you really are. When I get to face really good teams that can hit, it’s something I can really look forward to.”
Two down
The Padres sat twothirds of their regular starting outfield Sunday.
Center fielder Trent Grisham was scratched from the lineup with tightness in his left quad, and Wil Myers rested his balky right knee.
Grisham was in the original lineup but was pulled after testing his leg on the field about 90 minutes before the game. The Padres termed the move precautionary after he felt discomfort Saturday night.
Grisham stretched his left leg multiple times during his walk in Saturday’s sixth inning and was checked out by head athletic trainer Mark Rogow when he reached first base. Grisham not only stayed in the game, he stole second base.
Padres manager Jayce Tingler said Grisham is “day to day.”
Myers, who has been playing with patellar tendonitis, got some rest after starting the first two games of the series. He also sat the final two games in Pittsburgh, on Wednesday and Thursday.
Both players were announced as pinch-hitters in the seventh inning, with Grisham being announced first as Tingler induced the Dodgers into bringing in lefthander Scott Alexander. Myers then replaced Grisham and grounded out to second to end the inning.