The Los Angeles Dodgers brought in two-time Cy Young award winner Blake Snell this past offseason on a five-year, $182 million deal. After just two starts in a Dodgers uniform, Snell hit the injured list with shoulder inflammation and was sidelined for four months.
Upon his return, the command and velocity was back up to his usual standards, but Snell recently revealed to the LA Times’ Jack Harris that just a few weeks after his return, he would spend the night in the hospital.
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Snell’s wife Haeley gave birth to the couple’s second child at the end of August, and after already feeling “extremely sick,” he later fainted, was taken to the emergency room, and was hooked up to IV fluids for the night.
“I couldn’t really stand,” he said. “I just felt awful.”
A few days later, Snell was back on the bump at Dodger Stadium. The hospital stay contributed to what he called “the hardest year of my career,” but the southpaw wouldn’t let his sickness be the reason he missed a start.
“That’s what I signed up to do,” Snell said. “When I pitch, I just forget about it. I don’t allow a lot of excuses.”
Snell finished the regular season with a 2.35 ERA across 11 starts, but took things to another level in the postseason. He carried a 0.86 ERA through his first three postseason starts in a Dodgers uniform, but didn’t get the defending champions off to the best start in the World Series.
Snell went five innings during Game 1 of the Fall Classic against the Toronto Blue Jays, striking out four, walking three, and allowing five earned runs off eight hits. Luckily the Dodgers battled back behind a complete game gem from Yoshinobu Yamamoto during Game 2 to even the series, and will head back to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Monday.
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Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
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