Blake Snell, the Rays' best pitcher and last year's AL Cy Young Award winner, didn't face the MLB's best Minnesota Twins in the four-game series that ended with three straight losses, but will pitch the first game of the upcoming series starting Tuesday against the Tigers, one of the worst teams in the major leagues with a 22-34 record, twelve games under .500.
Wouldn't you think that two weeks ago the Rays might have done a little juggling with the starting rotation so that Snell would have had a shot against the Twins and given them a better chance at a W than the pitchers they did use--Stanek, Chirinos, and Yarbrough? Maybe they wouldn't be looking at a demoralizing three-game losing streak right now. Just a thought.
With respect to Blake Snell's performance this year, the Tampa Bay Times ran some interesting numbers this morning, June 4. In his last five starts, his ERA has been 1.78 and opponents' batting average against him is .198. But his overall record is 3-4 (3.06 ERA). With June, July, and August on us already, this may be Blake Snell's time to lead the Rays to the top of the AL East. They can't do it without him. And keeping him out of a key series against a playoff team like the Twins doesn't seem like the best strategy.
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