Snell looks strong in search for elusive hot start

PEORIA, Ariz. -- The Padres are in “win now” mode as much as any team has ever been, and left-hander Blake Snell figures to play a big part in putting this team over the top.

Snell, who allowed one run on two hits with four strikeouts during a 10-3 win over the A’s on Sunday in his Cactus League debut, joined the Padres in 2021 on the heels of winning an American League pennant with the Rays, and three years removed from winning an AL Cy Young Award in 2018. But his first two seasons in San Diego featured slow first halves, followed by dominance down the stretch.

The 30-year-old looked good on Sunday aside from a first-inning homer by Kevin Smith on what Snell called a bad pitch, but he cautioned against relying too much on Spring Training results as an indicator of readiness for the regular season.

“You never know,” said Snell. “The first spring I had here, I didn’t give up a run in the spring, and then I started slow, so who knows?”

Manager Bob Melvin thinks this could be the year the lefty returns to that elite tier.

“He’s come in, I think, with a little different focus about [a full season]. He’s had a history of getting off to some rough starts, then being as good as anybody,” Melvin said. “I think there are a lot of reasons for him to be motivated this year to have a good year.”

There are, indeed, “a lot of reasons.” Snell and the Padres are hoping to overtake the Dodgers in the National League West, and Snell would no doubt like another shot at a World Series ring. But this is also Snell’s last season before heading into free agency, so a lot of those reasons are the millions of dollars Snell will see on the open market if he rediscovers the Cy Young form that earned him 7.1 bWAR in 2018 with the Rays.

The first step for Snell will be avoiding those first-half struggles that have held him back during his time in San Diego. In 2021, Snell posted a 4.99 ERA in the first half, then turned in a 3.24 ERA in the second. In ’22, it was even more drastic: 5.22 ERA before the break, and 2.19 after.

“I think he probably started his process a little bit earlier, and certainly his mental process,” Melvin said. “Each game is going to be the same for him -- whether it’s Game 1 or Game 25. So I expect him to get off to a little better start this year, and last year, obviously, there was some injury stuff that held him back, too.”

The Padres worked to get Snell deeper into games last season, and that will be even more important early on this year because notorious workhorse Joe Musgrove’s ramp-up has been interrupted by a fractured left big toe.

“If you’re shortening this [rotation] and it’s five, you always feel like you need two guys that’ll get you to seven innings,” Melvin said. “Now maybe not the first couple starts, but you don’t want to have those be four innings. So we’re trying to build [Snell] up. We pushed him last year, probably for the first time, as far as pitches and innings. He probably went deeper into games. I don’t think that’s changed in our outlook for him this year.”

Camp notes
• Nelson Cruz went 2-for-3 on Sunday in his final Cactus League game for a while. The veteran slugger, along with Manny Machado, Juan Soto and Luis García, leave camp Monday to join the Dominican Republic for the World Baseball Classic.

“Once we win the whole thing, we’ll get back here right away,” said Cruz.

• Trent Grisham continued his strong spring, going 1-for-1 with a walk and an RBI. The center fielder is batting .357 in Cactus League play.

“He’s made just a little tweak on being more aggressive, and we’re seeing the fruits of that right now,” Melvin said.

• Padres top prospect Jackson Merrill, 19, went 1-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.