RADIO
Blake Snell 2022 Player Outlook: The Risk Outweighs The Upside
3 years agoIt was not a good year for Snell in his first go-round with the Padres. He finished the year with a 4.20 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP while winning just seven of his 27 starts. The problem was two-fold: walks and homers. His 12.5% walk rate was his worst mark since his rookie year, which really did not go well with the 1.12 HR/9 he allowed. He threw his four-seam fastball 52% of the time and hitters were ready for it, posting a 12.7% barrel rate against it while swinging and missing at it at just an 8.1% clip. The silver lining was the 3.03 ERA and 1.07 WHIP he posted in his final 62 innings, but even then he was still walking far too many hitters (10.2%). What we are looking at for 2022 is a guy with high upside, but who has only been able to put it together for a full season once in his six seasons. His ADP of 122 is the cheapest you have been able to get him since that Cy Young season, but even that seems a little bit too expensive for risky he has proven to be.
