Blake Snell Refutes ‘Wild Pitcher’ Narrative

Blake Snell is in the midst of a stellar postseason for the Los Angeles Dodgers, yielding a 0.86 ERA over 21 innings pitched across three starts thus far.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner only made 11 starts in his first season with the Dodgers due to a left shoulder injury, but he was still highly effective. Snell finished with a 2.35 ERA, and 72 strikeouts in 61.1 innings pitched during the regular season.

His 10.5% walk rate and 3.81 walks per nine innings were well within career averages of 10.2% and 3.82, respectively.

Over his career, Snell has been negatively characterized as a pitcher with great stuff but someone who can’t consistently go deep into games because a lack of control leads to high pitch counts. The left-hander doesn’t agree with the wild pitcher label bestowed upon him.

“I’ve always been a pitcher that could locate,” Snell recently said. “I’ve just been labeled a wild pitcher. But I’ve never felt that’s ever been true. But like my last three years have been pretty consistent. And I could throw the ball, do what I want with the ball.

“But the narrative’s always been, ‘He’s a wild pitcher, he walks a lot of guys.’ I laugh at it because I know it’s not true. I know that, because I’m the one throwing the ball.”

Looking at walk statistics in a vacuum doesn’t directly correlate to a lack of command because there can be added context. In certain situations, it could be more beneficial for a pitcher to work around a batter rather than be aggressive in the strike zone.

An elite pitcher will be able to pick his battles wisely and execute when he has the advantage.

In Snell’s case, he had the worst walk numbers of his career during his second Cy Young-season in 2023, but stranded 86.7% of runners who reached base against him.

Snell’s been around league average in terms of percentage of pitches thrown for strikes for his career. Over the past four seasons, excluding 2023, he has averaged just above 62% strikes thrown.

Blake Snell pitching deep into starts

In his three playoff starts this postseason, Snell has gone seven, six and eight innings with an average of 98 pitches thrown. It was an area of emphasis Snell set not only for himself but the Dodgers rotation as a whole.

He was tabbed as the Dodgers’ starter for Game 1 of the World Series on Friday.