Blake Snell not named July NL Pitcher of the Month

The National League Pitcher of the Month for July has been announced and it wasn’t Blake Snell. Instead it was Corbin Burnes of the Milwaukee Brewers.

While Burnes had a heck of a July (1.85 ERA, 8 R, 2 HR, 0.692), Snell allowed fewer runs which is what matters the most for pitchers. The 30-year-old posted a 0.56 ERA (after earning a 0.87 ERA in June) in 32 innings, allowing just two earned runs all month.

The 30-year-old had plenty of interesting starts in July, especially after the All-Star break. It started in Philadelphia when his manager Bob Melvin said he was “cooked” after throwing just over 80 pitches in Game 1 of San Diego’s doubleheader against the Phillies.

Then he walked seven Toronto Blue Jays batters on July 20, finishing the outing somehow allowing just one run. Five walks were issued back at home against Pittsburgh but Snell still only surrendered a single run. And of course in his final start of the month, Snell’s only run allowed was the one that he gave to the Texas Rangers on a bad throw.

“It’s good to know I can (work out of jams),” Snell told the media after his final July start. “It’s also good to know that I don’t need to be in those situations. So I need to find a way to be better.”

Snell likely isn’t going to totally solve his walk issues but if he keeps refusing to allow more than a run every start, then he is going to be one of the few pitchers to win a Cy Young in both leagues. It’s going to be an interesting last couple months of baseball in San Diego and Snell is a huge reason why.