A demotion to the Triple-A Durham in May for Tampa Bay Rays starter Blake Snell was so that he could work on his command, work deeper into games, gain consistency in throwing strikes and cut down on his walks.
Not all of the agenda was completed but the Rays were confident that what he had done was proof enough to warrant a return. But, that was not the case as the same Blake Snell showed up in his return to the majors.
The return came Wednesday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates and after retiring the first two batters on just five pitches – a swinging strikeout to leadoff hitter Max Moroff and a bunt ground out to Evan Longoria, everything was looking rosy and Snell was in command, well so it seemed… until Andrew McCutchen stepped up to the plate with Snell’s descend coming faster than a speeding bullet.