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Blake Snell starting is still must watch television for Rays fans. The young lefty pitched well, for the most part, and held Cleveland to quite a bit of weak contact and pitched into the 7th inning.
3 runs (2 earned) thus far on 7 hits over 6 2/3 innings for #Rays Snell in 3rd start. Threw 104 pitches, only 57 strikes
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) June 22, 2016
He's still a work in progress, but watching him pitch each week you can see the great promise that Snell possesses. This experience, whether the Rays get back into the playoff race or not, is both exciting to watch and valuable for his future development.
Links:
- Brad Miller tops a few categories in the Shortstop category of Fangraphs continuing hitter contact-quality report.
- It's starting to look like the Rays could be without Steve Pearce for close to a month
#Rays are sending Pearce back to St. Pete for MRI w/Dr. Eaton and possible shot. Likely at least 3 week s.
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) June 21, 2016
- But the Rays got some reletively good news on the Mikie Mahtook front
#Rays get good news on Mahtook, as exam in St. Pete showed non-displaced fracture, no surgery needed. Potential for return in 6 weeks.
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) June 21, 2016
- Some power from Bowling Green
This is Brett Sullivan. Not only is he the MWL player of the week, but also your HR DERBY CHAMP! #FanDriven pic.twitter.com/LVatavxrEJ
— BG Hot Rods (@BGHotRods) June 21, 2016
- John Walters of Newsweek makes an argument for the end of the "starting" pitcher.
- When things are bad for the team, sometimes it's comforting to see how much worse it could get in the sport. That's where the Phillies offense comes in, which Jeff Sullivan breaks down as reaching "laughably bad" levels.
- Just a fun little stat that makes us miss former Rays great Ben Zobrist even more.
Five @MLB hitters have walked more than they’ve struck out in 2016. pic.twitter.com/pwIuIj4Gax
— MLB Stat of the Day (@MLBStatoftheDay) June 21, 2016