Tampa Bay Rays starter Blake Snell has been in the news the past two weeks for reasons other than his play on the field. Here’s part three of the month-by-month breakdown of his best season.
We present to you part three of Tampa Bay Rays ace Blake Snell’s 2018 Cy Young Award-winning season.
Tampa Bay Rays: Blake Snell 2019 – August
Snell allowed just three earned runs on the month. He set a major-league record with 13 consecutive home-starts with allowing one run or less. He owned Tropicana Field.
His incredible August saw him strikeout 34 hitters in 26.0 innings with a 1.04 ERA for the month. His season ERA now hovered just above two with a 2.05 as he entered the final month of the season.
Tampa Bay Rays: Blake Snell 2018 – September
Blake Snell entered the final month of the season with a 2.05 ERA and looked to improve. He had only allowed more than two earned runs in three outings the entire season and that would not change in September.
Snell pitched 35.2 innings and struck out 53 batters in the final month of the season. He had two outings in which he allowed zero runs, three outings with one run, and just one outing with two.
He finished with a 1.89 ERA which was the lowest in the AL since Pedro Martinez posted a 1.74 in 2000. Snell went on to win the AL Cy Young Award, becoming the second pitcher in Rays history to claim the title.
Tampa Bay Rays: Blake Snell 2018 Single-Season Records
- Pitcher rWAR: 7.1 – Second Place is David Price (2012) 6.6.
- ERA: 1.89 – Second place is David Price (2012) with 2.56.
- Wins: 21 – Second place is David Price (2012) with 20.
- WHIP: 0.974 – Second place is Ryan Yarbrough (2019) 0.995.
- H/9: 5.579 – Second place is Jeremy Hellickson (2011) 6.952.
- K/9: 12.364 – Second place is Chris Archer (2017) 11.149.
- ERA+: 217 – Second place is David Price (2012) 150.
I hope you enjoyed traveling back through time for one of the greatest single-season pitching performances in Rays history.