Snell viewed as front-runner for NL Cy Young
AJ Cassavell
@AJCassavellSAN DIEGO -- Blake Snell's dominant 2023 season might be destined to end with hardware.
Snell was formally named as one of three finalists for the National League Cy Young Award on Monday, alongside Arizona's Zac Gallen and San Francisco's Logan Webb. The winner will be announced Nov. 15 on MLB Network in an unveiling show that begins at 3 p.m. PT.
Viewed by many as the favorite for the award, Snell is coming off his best season with the Padres. He led the Majors with a 2.25 ERA, while also leading with a .181 batting average against, 5.8 hits per nine innings and a 182 ERA+. He finished second in the NL with 234 strikeouts behind Atlanta’s Spencer Strider (281).
“The Cy Young is always the goal for everyone,” Snell said in September, as he finished his year with a 0.58 ERA across the season’s final month. “You want to be the best pitcher you can be. That award kind of clarifies that. I'm chasing that, because I'm chasing greatness.”
If Snell were to win the award, it could come on the first full day of his free agency. On Monday, the Padres extended Snell a qualifying offer, and he has until Nov. 14 to decide whether to accept. Considering that Snell is viewed as one of the top free agents on the market, he’s expected to decline that offer and become a free agent.
It’d be quite a way to hit the open market. After taking home the AL Cy Young Award with Tampa Bay in 2018, Snell is looking to join some exclusive company by winning the honor in both leagues. Only six pitchers have previously accomplished that feat -- Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Roy Halladay and Max Scherzer.
Snell would also become the first Padre to win the NL Cy Young since Jake Peavy in 2007 -- also the last time a Padre won a Major League ERA title. Prior to Peavy, three other Padres had earned an NL Cy Young -- Mark Davis in 1989, Perry in '78 and Randy Jones in '76.
Snell will learn whether he's joined that list soon.