The pitching performances of Blake Snell and Chris Sale on Monday night at Oracle Park weren’t only thrilling, they were microcosms.
Snell and Sale had 11 and 12 strikeouts, respectively, in Atlanta's 1-0 victory to open a key four-game series. Snell held the Braves hitless for six innings, and Sale lasted one inning longer than the Giants' left-hander.
For the primary time since 2010, Oracle Park hosted a game wherein each the Giants' starting pitcher and his opponent recorded not less than 10 strikeouts. Their combined 23 strikeouts were probably the most by a starting pitcher duel within the ballpark's 25-year history.
The game produced 33 total strikeouts — greater than another MLB game that season — a flaw in today's boom-or-bust baseball. Both Snell and Sale embody it as two of the era's defining starters: strikeout specialists who took advantage of the launch angle revolution and advances in advanced pitching science.
“There are a lot of misses, as you saw last night,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “I think both of them are very aware of where the game is going.”
Snell and Sale mix high fastballs that reach over 90 miles per hour with bending breaking balls that blow the spin rate scale. Snell has won two National League Cy Young Awards and Sale is the favourite to win the respect this 12 months.
They will not be the most effective starting pitchers of the last 15 years – that may be Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw. But in a way, they represent the evolution of baseball that has progressed probably the most.
Since the appearance of recent analytics, the creation of pitch labs like Driveline, and the shift to 3 real outcomes, Snell and Sale have been successful.
“The swings have changed,” Snell said after Monday's loss. “Before — luckily it was 2016 when I made my debut — but even before, it was just about average and finding a way to put the ball in play. Now it's about hitting, hitting home runs and doubles. For a guy like me who knows that, yeah, I mean, I should be pretty good at striking people out. Especially because they're trying to get far. So there's a lot more room for error because it's so hard to hit a baseball straight.”
Not every pitcher dominates the upper zone and resorts to maximum force to prioritize power over pitchability. Likewise, not every hitter goals for the fences with every swing. There are still great players like Logan Webb and Luis Arraez bucking the new-age trends. But they have gotten underdogs.
Snell and Sale rank first and second respectively on the all-time Strikeouts per nine innings leaderboard (and so they are separated by decimal points). The top 10 of the list is stuffed with energetic or recently retired pitchers. Current Giants left-hander Robbie Ray is third. Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer are fourth and fifth, respectively. Yu Darvish, Stephen Strasburg and Gerrit Cole are also included.
The only two pitchers in the highest 10 who debuted before 2008 are Randy Johnson and Kerry Wood. The undeniable fact that batters are retired as often as Snell and Sale is a recent development.
Monday night at Oracle Park was a textbook example of how dominant Snell and Sale have been of their careers, forcing half-hearted swings and their arsenals freezing batters on throws up the center.
Twice, Snell struck out 4 Braves in a row. Sale struck out his eleventh and twelfth Giants within the seventh inning.
Sale totaled 39 strikes and whiffs, including 28 along with his slider. Snell was one back and in addition used his best off-speed bet – the curveball – for swing-and-misses.
One of probably the most common complaints about modern baseball is that an excessive amount of of the motion has gone away. With fewer balls in play, there are fewer net gems, fewer stolen bases, and fewer strategy.
But duels between outstanding pitchers can be fun. Sale and Snell showed that on Monday night. The duo at the highest of the all-time strikeout rate list were at their best.
“The fastballs from the top of the zone — they took advantage of that,” Melvin said. “It's always been hard to control them. There's swing-and-misses up there. Baseball in general is going that way, and those two guys kind of embody that. They also have really, really difficult breaking balls that they have to chase, and they come from the same spot as their fastball. And they have other tricks up their sleeves, too.”
Originally published:
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