For months, San Diego Padres left-hander Blake Snell has been competing with Justin Steele, Spencer Strider, Zac Gallen, Zack Wheeler, Logan Webb and others to see who wins the NL Cy Young award this season.
Snell, however, has been able to use his phenomenal bat-missing ability to really set himself apart in the Cy Young race.
On Monday, he probably sealed the deal with another brilliant, scoreless outing.
“Did Blake Snell cement the 2023 NL Cy Young award tonight? 6 IP | 0 R | 4 H | 2 BB | 7 K | 2.25 ERA,” MLB on FOX tweeted.
Did Blake Snell cement the 2023 NL Cy Young award tonight?
6 IP | 0 R | 4 H | 2 BB | 7 K | 2.25 ERA pic.twitter.com/g3SaQh36PG
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) September 26, 2023
The answer to that question is probably “yes” at this point.
Even if the Padres won’t go to the postseason, Snell has been a monster for them.
On Monday, he held the San Francisco Giants off the scoreboard for six frames in which he conceded just four hits and a couple of walks, with seven strikeouts.
His Padres lost because Webb was equally dominant for longer, but barring a huge surprise, Snell probably locked up his second Cy Young with the outing.
Over the course of the long 2023 season, he has a 2.25 ERA in 180 frames, with 14 wins and 234 strikeouts (a career-high).
The ERA is his best since he had a 1.89 mark in 2018 with the Tampa Bay Rays.
He won his first Cy Young award that year and is close to joining a group formed by Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Roy Halladay, and Max Scherzer.
Those are the only pitchers in history to win the Cy Young award in both leagues.
NEXT: Juan Soto Joins Another Elite All-Time Group
