Dodgers Star Credits Giants for Teaching Him How to Pitch at Elite Level

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Blake Snell (7) pitches during the first inning of the of their National League Championship Series game against the Milwaukee Brewers October 13, 2025 at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. | Jovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Blake Snell has established himself as one of the best starting pitchers in the game of baseball.

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Dating back to his days in Tampa Bay — followed by short stints in San Diego and San Francisco before ending up in Los Angeles, the two-time Cy Young Award winner routinely demonstrates the raw stuff to shut down any lineup in the big leagues (as has been seen throughout the 2025 MLB playoffs).

Blake Snell on playing with the Giants and learning from Logan Webb last year:

“That's where I learned how to pitch.”

(via TBS) https://t.co/hpa8j7amUh pic.twitter.com/w2BqLpiFqq

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) October 19, 2025

Snell was speaking to the MLB Network crew recently in the wake of throwing a truly dominant eight inning performance in Milwaukee versus the Brewers during the NLCS. A true student of the game, Snell is meticulous in working on his delivery and all of the little things making him a dominant pitcher.

Interestingly enough, a member of the hated San Francisco Giants has turned out to be immensely significant in Snell's further development as an elite performer.

"Going to San Francisco is where I learned how to pitch," Snell said. "I was around Logan Webb. That year in San Fran was so big for me. Just being around Logan and really learning how to pitch."

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Snell marveled at how Webb could routinely pitch into the seventh innings of games. When asked how he did it, Webb admitted that he pounded the strike zone — and that Snell himself "struck out too many batters" nibbling on the edges.

The Top 3 Career MLB K/9 leaders (min. 100 starts) in MLB History:

1. Shohei Ohtani — 11.41
2. Tyler Glasnow — 11.40
3. Blake Snell — 11.19https://t.co/TeqcUgJIbW pic.twitter.com/JBfDIzvCQ5

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 19, 2025

This philosophy is a part of what has made Snell great. He rarely leaves anything over the heart of the plate, and as such he's very difficult to hit. However, the knock on Snell historically is that he walks too many hitters — and inexplicably that could've been why the Giants failed to re-sign Snell this past offseason.

Snell's current performance suggests someone that's trusting his ability to throw the baseball in the zone. Over his last five outings dating back to the end of the regular season, Snell has walked only eight hitters in 34.0 innings.

Blake Snell is through seven DOMINANT innings!

He's retired 14 straight 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/X2ji7fsZV5

— MLB (@MLB) October 14, 2025

With the rest the team has gotten in the wake of winning the NLCS in four games, the Dodgers likely will use Snell in Game 1 of the World Series whether that's in Toronto versus the Blue Jays or back home at Dodger Stadium versus the Seattle Mariners.

For more Dodgers news, head over to Dodgers on SI.