San Diego Padres starter Blake Snell was a last-minute scratch from his first scheduled start of the season on Sunday. The issue is left adductor tightness, the same injury that troubled Snell at the end of last season, per MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell.
Nabil Crismatt took the ball to start the ballgame in Snell’s stead. The 27-year-old swingman should be fresh, as he has yet to appear in a game so far this season. Sunday marks the first start of his major league career, but he was mostly a starter coming up through the Mets’ minor league system. Crismatt owns a 3.71 ERA in 51 career appearances out of the pen.
Crismatt would be a candidate to stay in the rotation for a turn or two if Snell ends up needing a stint on the injured list. Reiss Knehr would be a prospective call-up if the Padres decide to go that route. They just dealt away Chris Paddack, but of course, they wouldn’t have done so with the expectation of needing just five starters to get through the season. They no doubt have a hierarchy in place for just this sort of contingency.
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