Blake Snell exited his start against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night despite having a no-hitter going. It turns out that Snell felt that was the right move.
Snell pitched seven hitless, scoreless innings, striking out 10 and walking two on Tuesday. He exited with the team up 3-0 in the game.
Oh yeah, and Snell had thrown 107 pitches in the game and has never completed eight innings in his career. He thought it was the right decision to be removed.
Blake Snell on being removed after 7 no-hit innings "I think we were all in agreement…2 more innings to go, do I really want to throw 140 pitches when I'm going to more needed the rest of this month?"
— Marty Caswell (@MartyCaswell) September 1, 2021
Padres manager Jayce Tingler also shared his reasoning.
"It's the last thing you want to do," Jayce Tingler said of his decision to remove Blake Snell amid a no-hitter. "The reality is he's coming off his career-high pitches, his career high in innings, he's on a great roll right now, and it's 107 pitches."
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) September 1, 2021
Snell is in his first season with the Padres after being acquired in an offseason trade. He had been a big disappointment for most of the season but turned it on in August and has had consecutive stellar starts. This is coming at a time when the slumping Padres need it badly.
Maybe he’s right that the no-hitter pursuit, if it meant possibly 130-140 pitches, wasn’t worth it.
