Blake Snell made his first start back from the paternity list for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, but posted mixed results in a loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Snell struck out an impressive eight hitters over 5.1 innings, but he also allowed three runs on four hits with three walks, and took the loss.
Perhaps the most concerning thing was a decline in velocity.
Snell saw his fastball velocity drop 1.7 mph from his season average, 95.4 to 93.7. He also topped out at just 95.3 mph, a mark below his average for the year, and threw a pitch at 91.5 mph.
Although a drop in velocity, especially one that significant, is often a precursor to a more serious injury, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts attributed it to some of the other things going on in Snell’s life.
“Yeah, Blake is fine,” Roberts said. “It’s been a weird week for him just having the baby and kind of trying to re-adjust, and the throwing schedule, the sleep schedule, all that stuff. So I think today, he just didn’t have a whole lot in the tank tonight.”
Snell reiterated the decline was more related to the change in his scheduling, and he’s confident the velocity will tick back up in his next outing.
“I mean, yeah, I had a busy week, a lot going on,” Snell said. “Yeah, there’s a lot. I’m not worried about it. I know what’s going on, so it’ll come back. I’m zero worried about it.
“I mean, I was aware of it, but I’m not going to push it. Just, it is what it is. It’s what I had today and yeah, just got to be better.”
Snell did say that lack of sleep wasn’t an issue for him, something many parents fail to properly get after the birth of their child.
“Yeah, I’m good there,” Snell said. “I’ll have a full week of catch from playing. I’ll be fine next outing and be right back where it was.”
Dave Roberts praises Blake Snell for competing
Even without his overpowering velocity, Snell was able to keep the Dodgers in the game and give them a chance to win. The left-hander also led all pitchers on the night with 16 swings and misses, a good sign for the quality of his stuff.
“I think that today the changeup was really good,” Roberts said. “The fastball velocity was down a little bit, but he still made pitches. He still competed.
“We still had a chance to win the game, but can’t get shut out. So given everything that Blake has been through, he’s going to be fine in his next one.”
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