San Francisco Giants News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

Image credit: ClutchPoints

Giants’ Blake Snell set for injury return after difficult start to 2024 season

Originally posted on ClutchPoints | By Rexwell Villas | Last updated 5/20/24

San Francisco Giants star Blake Snell is about to make his return to the mound over a month since he made his last appearance, with Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reporting that the two-time Cy Young winner will be throwing again this Wednesday in the second game of a three-leg road series versus the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“Blake Snell will start Wednesday in Pittsburgh, sliding in behind Logan Webb. It’s possible Giants go with a bullpen game on Thursday with Mason Black going bulk innings. (They’re facing Paul Skenes that day, so it’s a challenge either way.)”

Snell found himself on the 15-day injured list after being diagnosed with a strained adductor muscle. Before the report of his looming return surfaced, Snell had pitched for two games in the minors for the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats and Single-A San Jose Giants. In those games, Snell allowed zero earned runs and no hits while allowing just a walk and fanning out a total of 17 hitters across nine innings of work. Those were good signs for Snell, who will be looking to start pitching like the pitcher the Giants expected him to be when they inked him to a two-year deal; worth $62 million back in March.

Blake Snell has troubling start to Giants stint

San Francisco Giants pitcher Blake Snell (7) reacts after walking an Arizona Diamondbacks batter during the fourth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

So far in Giants uniform, Snell has struggled mightily on the mound. In three starts for San Francisco to date in the 2024 MLB regular season, the 31-year-old Snell has posted a dizzyingly bad 11.57 ERA to go along with a 0-3 record in three starts. In his most recent start in the big leagues, Snell got knocked around for five earned runs on nine hits with a walk issued and just three strikeouts in 4.2 innings of work on the mound during a brutal 17-1 loss at home to the Arizona Diamondbacks back on Apr. 19.

Pitching has been a major issue for the Giants this season. They are only 22nd in the big leagues overall with a starters ERA of just 4.37, though, the same group is 15th with a 3.93 FIP, which indicates that San Francisco’s rotation is performing much better than what it appears on paper. The Giants’ starters also have a high .319 BABIP, an indication that it could get better for them in the long run.

In any case, the Giants are hoping that Snell’s return will help them sustain the torrid form they are having.

The Giants are rolling heading into the Pirates series

San Francisco is currently sporting just a 23-25 record, good for only third in the National League West division. They are behind the Los Angeles Dodgers by 8.5 games and by just a game to the San Diego Padres. However, the Giants are surging of late, having won four games in a row. That’s the longest undefeated streak in the National League and second-longest in the entire majors, behind just the New York Yankees, who are on a seven-game undefeated run at the time of this writing.

After avoiding a sweep at the hands of the Dodgers by taking the series finale at home, 4-1, on May 15, the Giants proceeded to sweep the Colorado Rockies in a three-leg set in the Bay Area. San Francisco outscored the Rockies in the series, 28-10. The Giants’ offense has seemingly come alive and it will look to keep it going in the Pirates series. San Francisco has an OPS of .901 in the last seven days — the highest in the majors in that same span.

This article first appeared on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: