Tampa Bay Rays ace Pitcher Blake Snell has broken his toe and is expected to miss one start. The injury was non-baseball related and is a big blow to the hot starting Rays. Tampa Bay has placed him on the Injured List retroactive to this past Sunday.
We’ve placed P Blake Snell on the 10-day IL with a fractured right toe, retroactive to Sunday 4/14.
Emilio Pagán has been selected from AAA Durham. #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/iLIFN7B6vv
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 16, 2019
Blake Snell Heads to IL With Broken Toe
Impact
Anytime a starting pitcher is forced to abandon his daily routine it bears watching. Snell won the 2018 Cy Young Award and has not shown any signs of slowing down in 2019. From all reports, it appears he will miss only one start. Snell has already said he feels better and he thinks he will miss only one start. But he also said he has never broken a bone in his body before and is pushing to only miss one start.
Blake Snell his toe injury. #tbrays #raysup pic.twitter.com/kryEApQB0L
— Eduardo A. Encina (@EddieInTheYard) April 16, 2019
Tampa Bay’s Outlook
At 12-4, the Rays have jumped out to the best record in Major League Baseball. Even more of a positive is the 5.5 game lead over the New York Yankees and 6.5 games over the defending champion Boston Red Sox. Anytime your ace misses starts it is a big deal. But with the Rays great start and struggles by their biggest competitors, this is a time for Tampa Bay to create even more separation in the standings. Even though Tampa Bay is not a conventional team in how it handles its pitching staff, losing Snell is not part of that innovation. If Snell will be out for multiple starts, this could be a very costly injury.
This is a situation that should be watched closely. Snell is certainly a player Tampa Bay cannot afford to lose. At times the slightest of injuries to pitchers can result in a change of mechanics if they are rushed back when not fully healed. The cushion they have built in the division should allow Tampa Bay to be cautious with their ace pitcher. The season is not even a month old yet. Hopefully, Tampa plays it safe with Blake Snell.
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