Blake Snell Is Not The San Francisco Giants’ Only Impressive Lefty
SCOTTSDALE, AZ. – There’s a left-hander opening eyes and shutting down opponents for the San Francisco Giants – and his name is not Blake Snell.
It is rookie Kyle Harrison, slated to be in the rotation with Opening Day starter Logan Webb, hard-throwing Jordan Hicks, fellow rookie Keaton Winn and Snell. Veterans Alex Cobb and Robbie Ray, the 2021 American League Cy Young Award winner, are due back from injuries just before and after midseason, respectively.
Snell, 31, signed March 18 to a two-year, $62 million contract, is the reigning NL Cy Young winner. He also won the award in the AL in 2018. In those two years, he had a combined record of 35-14. In his other six seasons, his overall mark was just 36-41.
The Giants hope Harrison, 22, will eventually match Snell’s top-level work and do so consistently. They paid him first-round money, $2,497,500, as a third-round draft pick in 2020. That’s more than 54 of the 84 players chosen ahead of him received.
He’s now ranked as San Francisco’s top prospect and No. 23 overall by MLB Pipeline. This spring, he has a 2-0 record and 1.93 earned run average in three starts.
