Blake Snell had great stuff in Game 2 of the World Series on Wednesday night, but he might not have predicted it coming out of his warmups.
The Tampa Bay Rays pitcher revealed to Jon Morosi of MLB.com that he felt “terrible” during his pregame bullpen. In response, he quickly ducked into the weight room before first pitch.
True story: Blake Snell told me he felt “terrible” warming up in the bullpen before Game 2. His response? He went into the weight room before the first pitch, ran on a treadmill, and did some squats. Nine strikeouts later, the #WorldSeries is tied. @RaysBaseball @snellzilla4 @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) October 22, 2020
It seems to have worked. While Snell lasted only 4.2 innings and walked four, he struck out nine and allowed only two hits. He even took a no-hitter into the fifth before he was ultimately knocked out of the game.
Baseball history is filled with pitchers who felt awful warming up and then went out and spun gems. Snell didn’t go as deep into the game as he might have liked, but he gave the Rays what they were looking for.
Snell has some interesting responses to certain things when he’s getting ready to start games. As long as it works for him, there’s no reason to question it.
