San Francisco Giants New Ace and Reigning Cy Young Winner Debuts Monday

The San Francisco Giants will get to see their new star pitcher for the first time after it was announced the reigning NL Cy Young winner would be debuting on Monday.

Mar 28, 2024; San Diego, California, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Blake Snell (7) looks on before the game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. | Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

This offseason, there were many players who were expecting to receive lucrative, long-term contracts, and the San Francisco Giants landed Korean sensation Jung-hoo Lee with a six-year, $113 million deal.

One of the most high-profile players who remained on the market for the majority of the winter was reigning National League Cy Young winner Blake Snell.

Coming off a year where posted a 2.25 ERA across his 32 starts and 180 innings pitched, many insiders were projecting he might receive somewhere around $200 million.

That ultimately didn't transpire and Snell continued to be available for multiple teams to pursue with his value cratering compared to what was initially expected.

The Giants were able to get the star left-hander on a two-year, $62 million deal with an opt-out after the first season. They're hoping they get peak performance from Snell that would likely cause him to test free agency once again.

He'll debut on Monday as San Francisco hosts the Washington Nationals.

The reigning NL Cy Young is back!

Blake Snell makes his @SFGiants debut against the Nationals in San Francisco at 9:45 pm ET. pic.twitter.com/Mn8d7RcdO5

— MLB (@MLB) April 8, 2024

What might have made teams hesitant to sign him this offseason have been the inconsistent performances he's had during his career outside of his peak years where he's also battled injuries.

His 180 innings pitched in 2023 were the second-most of his career, trailing only his other Cy Young-winning season in 2018 where he thew 180 2/3. Outside of those seasons, he's never thrown more than 130 innings during his eight years in the MLB.

The Giants will get to see him in action on Monday, and they certainly need an ace-caliber arm like they're getting as they sit with a 4-6 record entering the contest with Snell taking the mound.