The Dodgers signed Blake Snell to a 5 year contract that will pay him about 36 million a year for the next 5 years. Blake Snell was a high risk signing. He has played in the majors for 9 seasons. In only 2 of those seasons has he pitched in over 30 games. He has had 2 outstanding seasons which has netted him 2 Cy Young awards. Besides not coming to the post all that often his overall numbers are not that impressive. His career OPS+, the comparison stat where 100 is league average, is 128. Simply put, over the past 9 years he has pitched better than 28% of major league pitchers. Max Fried of the Braves is a free agent also this year. His career OPS+ over 8 years is 140. He has had his share of injuries, even more so than Snell. He has averaged 21 starts per year whereas Snell has averaged close to 24 starts. Snell’s biggest problem is his control. Even his Cy Young year with the Padres he averaged 5 walks per 9 innings. Until Snell threw his no hitter this year where he went 9 innings, he had never had a complete game. Let that one sink in for a while. Naturally when the Dodgers signed Snell all of the media was moaning and complaining that the system is broken, blah blah blah. The idea that only about 5 or 6 teams could afford Snell is ridiculous. Even the Pirates could afford Snell even though they would never admit it. However, what teams like the Pirates cannot do is take the risk of Snell having a mediocre year which he did for 3 of those 9 years. They also cannot take the risk of him taking the mound only 24 times or less which he did 5 out of 9 seasons. The Dodgers can take that risk and are taking that risk. In my view it is a big risk. The Dodgers have one of the strongest stables of starting pitching in all of baseball. The question will be how many of them will be able to come to the post. Not many did last year for various reasons. Despite all of this the Dodgers did manage to win the World Series. They still have the big three, Betts, Ohtani, and Freeman, who combined for 15 WAR last year. The starting 9 for the Pirates had a combined WAR of 8. This was not a player that the Pirates needed to or should have signed. It is obvious they need position players. Even for the Dodgers the Blake Snell signing is a burden for their payroll. It is very likely a signing that they will regret.
Pirates Morning Report: Bending But Not Breaking
Final Score: Pirates 1 Dodgers 0
Why The Pirates Won: Jared Jones and the Pirate bullpen combined to shut out the Dodgers despite allowing a lot of traffic on the basepaths. The Dodgers got a runner to 3rd in 5 innings and a runner on 2nd one other inning. They were a Pirate like 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position and stranded 9 runners. Jared Jones pitched 6 innings giving up 3 hits, 3 walks, striking out 6. He finished strong retiring the last 6 batters he faced striking out 4 of them, throwing his last pitch of the game at 99 MPH. The bullpen had its shaky moments as we will see but came through when it mattered to preserve the shutout and the win. The anemic offense of the Pirates scored their only run on a Jack Suwinski home run in the 3rd inning. They only managed 3 other hits while striking out 13 times. Rawhide Rowdy despite his big game on Sunday was certainly hearing the boo birds last night. I guess one game does not erase a season of awfulness. At least the Pirates won’t be swept by the Dodgers.
The Key Moment Of The Game: Aroldis Chapman came in for the top of the 8th and immediately I had trouble breathing. On the 5th pitch Shohei (I Am Very Trusting) Ohtani hit a seeing eye ground ball through the infield. Miraculously Chapman got a called 3rd strike on Freddie Freeman that was low. Then he walks Will Smith on 4 pitches. Breathing very shallow at this point with my brain thinking he is going to walk the next 2 batters. On the first pitch Teoscar Hernandez hit a down the middle slider 107 MPH that Chapman thought had left the park but was caught by Jack Suwinski 380 feet from homeplate. This did move Ohtani to 3rd. Chapman struck out Andy Pages on 6 pitches and I collapsed on the floor. Sweet Jesus a miracle had happen. On the 2nd pitch of the at bat Henry Davis made a nice stop on a fastball that was way low and inside to the right-handed batter that kept the tying run from scoring. The Pirates pulled out a tight tense game. Fortunately, Shelton did not have to make many moves. He did have, of all people, Hunter (Christ I Hope I Don’t Get In) Stratton warming up in the 6th inning. Unbelievable!
Next Game: Tonight, Dodgers in Pittsburgh. Paul Skenes will start tonight, and you have to wonder how long that even he can keep the Dodgers at bay. The Dodgers are sending lefty James Paxton to the mound, so Rawhide Rowdy won’t be hearing the boos tonight.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 