“It's frustrating but, gotta look onto what's next" - Blake Snell reflects on unexpected injury and early exit in Yankees game
Reigning NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell has been off to a bad start this season, with him posting a 9.51 ERA in just 23.2 innings pitched so far. Adding to his woes, he seems to have injured his groin in Sunday's game against the New York Yankees and had to be pulled out of the game in the fifth. He has already missed 25 games due to a left adductor strain and now he is possibly in line for more.
After the game, during an interaction with reporters, Blake Snell discussed his outing and the unexpected groin injury.
"Overall it felt good, felt confident. Stuff is there... It's definitely a bummer. It's frustrating but, gotta look onto what's next," Snell said.
Last week, USA Today's Bob Nightengale had a conversation with Snell about how the Giants pitcher was upset due to his underwhelming start to the season and pointed to no spring training as the reason.
"The one thing I would say is that big-league spring training, you need it. You have to go to spring training. I hope teams see that," Snell said.
Blake Snell had a delayed start to the season after he finalized a two-year, $62 million contract with just a few days left in Spring Training. This certainly seems to have played a part in Snell's disappointing stats as he doesn't seem to be a pitcher properly built-up during the pre-season.
Blake Snell scheduled to undergo MRI on Monday; another injured list stint awaits him
Blake Snell was two pitches into the at-bat against Alex Verdugo and it was only his 99th pitch of the game when he suddenly seemed to have injured his left groin. The trainers and manager Bob Melvin came out to check on him and eventually, he was pulled out.
He is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday and will likely see himself getting placed on the 15-day injured list.
"I don't think he's moving around worse than last time, but I don't know how it's not an IL [stint]," Melvin said.
"We'll look at it," Snell said. "I've definitely got to add something strengthening-wise that I haven't been doing. … I've got a lot to learn, but I've definitely got to get stronger and make sure that this stops happening."
It was only Blake Snell's third start coming off a left adductor strain injury, which rendered him to miss 25 games this season. Moreover, it wasn't one of his best days, as he allowed three earned runs to score and the Giants eventually lost the game 7-5, thanks to a four-run ninth-inning come-from-behind victory.