San Diego Padres' Blake Snell Makes Multiple Instances of History By Winning Cy Young Award
Blake Snell secured the National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday night, making multiple instances of history in the process.
The 30-year-old left-hander starred for the San Diego Padres, picking up some serious hardware five seasons after doing the same with the Tampa Bay Rays. According to MLB.com's Sarah Langs, Snell becomes the seventh pitcher ever to win the Cy Young Award in both the American League and National League.
Max Scherzer is the most recent player to achieve the feat. Before him, Roy Halladay, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens and Gaylord Perry all did so. Every player on the list has a Hall of Fame resume, with Clemens being the only eligible pitcher left out of Cooperstown due to his ties to performance enhancing drugs.
That wasn't the only way in which Snell made history, either.
Snell opened his 2023 campaign with a 1-6 record. Per OptaSTATS, Snell is now the first pitcher in MLB history to win the Cy Young after being five-plus games under .500 at any point in the season.
Of course, Snell turned things around from there to justify winning his second Cy Young in six years. Across his final 23 starts, Snell led the Padres to a 16-7 record thanks to his 1.20 ERA and .156 batting average against.
Snell finished the season 14-9 with an NL-best 2.25 ERA, as well as 234 strikeouts, an 1.189 WHIP and 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings. His 6.0 WAR led all National League pitchers in 2023.
Langs also reported that Snell became the 11th pitcher to win a Cy Young Award entering free agency, and the fourth in the last four seasons. Five of the last 10 changed teams, and it remains to be seen where Snell ends up for 2024.
Snell earned 28 of 30 first-place votes. San Francisco Giants ace Logan Webb and Arizona Diamondbacks standout Zac Gallen finished second and third, respectively.
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