BOSTON RED SOX NOTES:
No release available.
SAN DIEGO PADRES NOTES:
Padres fall 4-3 to Royals on Wednesday, drop 4th straight series
- On Wednesday vs. Kansas City, Yu Darvish allowed 4 runs (earned) on 6 hits in 5.1 innings…the SD offense stranded 12 runners and twice loaded the bases with fewer than 2 outs without scoring.
- The Padres have lost 9 of their last 11 and haven’t won consecutive games since May 3-5…their 9 losses since May 6 tie with the A’s for the most losses of any team in that time.
Armed Forces Weekend
- This weekend, MLB and all clubs will demonstrate their appreciation of military service men, women, and their families this weekend in commemoration of Armed Forces Day…on Friday and Saturday, the Padres will wear the officially licensed army green hats and socks with their home white pinstripe uniforms…on “Armed Forces Day” on Sunday, May 21st, the Friars will wear the Armed Forces gear with their military green camo uniforms.
Machado is placed on IL for 1st time since 2014 with left hand fracture
- Manny Machado was diagnosed with a fractured metacarpal bone in his left hand after he was hit by a pitch on Monday night…Machado had not been placed on an Injured List since 2014 with Baltimore with a right knee sprain (has gone over 8 years without being placed on the IL).
Problem with runners in scoring position
- San Diego’s .196 clip with RISP this year is the lowest in MLB, and it’s the club’s lowest mark with RISP through their 1st 44 games of a season since their .186 clip in 2014…in the Expansion era (since 1961), the lowest AVG of any team with RISP in a season was the Padres’ .201 clip in 1969 (SD’S 1st season)… in the Expansion Era, the lowest AVG with RISP before the All-Star break was the Padres’ .198 in 2014.
Padres look for 1st-ever series win over Boston in San Diego
- The Padres host the Boston Red Sox for the 1st time since 2019, and they’ll look for their 2nd-ever series win over Boston (sole series win so far was when they took 2 of 3 in Boston back in 2011).
- Xander Bogaerts, facing his former club for the 1st time since being signed by SD, will receive his ’22 Silver Slugger Award pregame on Saturday.
STARTING PITCHER – BLAKE SNELL 4
Snell makes 9th start of the season vs. former AL East foe
30-year-old left-hander Blake Snell is set for his 13th career start vs. the Boston Red Sox, which will tie for the 2nd-most starts he’s made against any club (also: TOR)…it will be his first time facing the Red Sox as a member of the Padres, with his last starts vs. BOS coming in 2020 w/ TB…he’s made 10+ starts against 3 other clubs: 18 vs. NYY, 11 vs. LAD and 10 vs. COL…his 7 winning decisions vs. BOS are the most he’s earned against any team, 3 ahead of the next closest teams (4 vs. each of ARI, CWS, NYY and TOR).
Snell stringing together quality outings
Tonight, Snell will be in search of his 4th consecutive quality start, which would tie for the 2nd-longest quality outing streak of his career from his Cy Young 2018 campaign (June 19-July 7)…he posted a career-high 6 consecutive quality outings earlier in 2018 from April 10-May 8…he had 3 streaks last year of tossing back-to-back quality starts, but he has just 1 other stretch of 3-straight QS as a Padre (August 25-September 7, 2021).
Welcome to Snel-LA
Snell faced off against the Dodgers in both of his last 2 starts, allowing just 5 hits, 1 HR and 4 runs scored, but received just 2 total runs of support…including the Postseason, they were his 13th and 14th career starts vs. the Dodgers, and among all active pitchers who have made at least 10 career starts vs. LAD, his .176 opp. AVG vs. LAD hitters ranks 1st, and his 2.55 ERA ranks T-2nd among all active pitchers with Max Scherzer, slightly behind only Jacob deGrom (2.50)…using the same qualifications, his 1.07 WHIP ranks 6th.
Limit the free passes
Snell’s lone winning decision came in his only start this season with 0 walks on Mon, May 1 vs. CIN…it was the 12th time in his career he’s issued 0 walks across 6.0+ innings, and he is now 10-0 with a 1.29 ERA in such outings…it was his first career start vs. the Reds, leaving his former team, the Tampa Bay Rays, as the only team he is yet to square off against.
More on the walks
Snell has issued 3+ walks in 6 of his 8 starts so far this year, including 4 such starts in a row from April 6-25…this season, he’s issued 25 BB to the 183 batters he’s faced across 41.0 IP…he has the 7th-hightest BB/9 IP ratio (5.49) and 8th highest BB/BFP (.137) – min. 8 starts.
Call him ‘Swing and Miss Snell’
Snell has caused opponents to swing and miss 32.6% of the time, the 5th-highest swing and miss rate among all ML starters and 3rd-highest in the NL (min. 8 starts), trailing only Spencer Strider (40.0%) and Edward Cabrera (33.2%)…among all ML pitchers who have made at least 55 starts since 2021, which was Snell’s first season with the Padres, his 32.3 whiff % is the 4th-highest, trailing only Corbin Burnes (35.4%), Shane McClanahan (33.6%) and Dylan Cease (33.0%).
Can’t stay ahead if you don’t get ahead
Snell is getting ahead in counts on the first pitch a little over half the time…his 51.9 first-pitch strike percentage is 3rd-lowest in the Majors (min. 8 starts), ahead of only KC’s Brad 10:15 PM ET
